Last Priority
by Blue Rose 01
Summary: Sakura finds herself captured by the Akatsuki while trying to save her team and her village. She joins them to save her best friend. What else will she sacrifice for the people she loves? ItaSaku. Rated for a reason
1. Chapter 1

**Last Priority**

**Chapter One**

Summary: _Sakura has given up her dreams, her promising future, and even the trust and love of her friends in order to protect them. What more can she give for the people around her?_

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.

…

Haruno Sakura—first rate medic nin in Konoha, second only to her mentor Tsunade herself, ANBU captain, and highly respected kunoichi—cursed under her breath as her legs carried her further and further away from her team.

Her team had been assigned to a mission to 'investigate the actions'a gang of missing nin causing trouble in River Country and deal with it as deemed necessary, in other words, put an end to it; simple enough. However, they encountered a pair of particularly dangerous missing nin on their way back; the infamous Akatsuki.

_Flashback_

_"Lee, head back to Konoha and inform Tsunade-sama of our situation," Sakura instructed._

_"Sakura-san, I want to help! I cannot simply leave my team in the face of such danger. That would not be the youthful thing to do!" Lee protested, a familiar fire burning in his eyes._

_"You are the fastest person on our team and we will need reinforcements."_

_"But -!"_

_"Lee," Sakura gave him a pointed look that clearly left no room for argument._

_"H-hai, taichou. I wish you the best of luck, may you tap into the spring of youth and emerge victorious!" With that, he removed his weights and dashed off towards Konoha._

_"Shino, Mikage, We'll hold them off until Lee returns with help. Do not let on about your capability. Let them believe you are weaker than you really are and analyze their strengths and weaknesses first."_

_"Hai," they replied in unison._

_The remaining three stepped out of the bushes and crossed the mile distance separating them from their opponents, trying to look unfazed._

_Sakura eyed their opponents warily. She recognized one by the unnaturally blue hue of his skin-Hoshigaki Kisame. The other, she stiffened at the sight of him. __Uchiha Itachi__ she mused._

'Older sibling of Uchiha Sasuke,'_Inner Sakura reminded her._

_"What are you doing here?" She questioned, trying to sound more confident than she felt at the moment._

_"Our matters do not concern you," Itachi stated stoically._

_"Like hell it doesn't. You are not welcome in Fire Country, especially not this close to Konoha."_

_"Hn."_

_"Fine, I'll just have to beat it out of you then." His lip twitched and he almost__smirked at her hollow threat, easily sensing her apprehension despite her surprisingly calm voice._

_"It begins," Itachi said quietly, but it rang out loud and clear._

_Shino and Mikage launched themselves at Kisame, leaving Sakura to face off against Itach._

'Are you suicidal?'_Inner Sakura chimed out,_ 'What were you thinking, taunting him like that? This is _Uchiha Itachi_, the man who killed his entire clan just for the hell of it! You're just begging to die aren't you?'

_Sakura did her best to ignore this as she focused on her opponent. Channeling chakra to her left foot, Sakura stomped down, creating a large crater in the earth before jumping back into the trees. She felt Itachi behind her and swung a kick behind her as she swiveled her body to face him. He expected her reaction and caught her kick, bringing his elbow down to jab it into her tibia, with every intention of breaking it but, sensing his intent, Sakura brought her other leg up to kick his arm away before he did any damage, supporting herself on her arms as she successfully twisted out of his grasp. They both jumped down from the tree eyed each other warily, waiting for the other to make a move. Itachi disappeared, leaving Sakura alone in the middle of the trees trying to feel for his chakra. She looked up to see her opponent throw several kunai down at her, but dodged them easily._

'This is too easy, what is he doing?'_ Sakura wondered. She was pulled from her thoughts as Itachi materialized in front of her and threw a kick at her. She blocked it with her arms but failed to dodge the punch coming from the right and she was knocked off balance._

_'__He's fast!' Inner Sakura supplied in the midst of the struggle._

_"Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu!" was the only warning she got before a large fireball made its way towards the small kunoichi_

_"Suiton Suijinheki!" Sakura countered it, shooting a blast of water from her mouth._

_The two jutsu collided and blew each other out, filling the vicinity with a wall of steam. By the time the steam cleared, the small area they had previously occupied was empty, all trees were incinerated. The only sounds to be heard were the other three shinobi as they continued with their own fight. Itachi felt, more than heard Sakura rushing towards him with speed he was unaware she was capable of. He turned and caught her chakra enhanced punch, forcing back the grunt of pain as he heard several of his bones crack with the pressure. She smirked in satisfaction, knowing the pain it must have caused him, despite the look of indifference his Uchiha pride forced him to maintain. They continued their __dance__ for a long time until Itachi decided it was about time to end it. He pinned her to the tree, trying to get her to look into his eyes, but she knew better. She looked to her left and saw her team was having a hard time keeping up with Kisame and his large sword. Sakura suddenly disappeared from Itachi's grasp and all that was left were cherry blossoms; __how cliché.__ She reappeared several yards away from him and closer to his partner._

_"Shino, Mikage RETREAT!" she yelled as she dodged another fireball from her opponent._

_"T-taichou?" Mikage had never been a problem when it came to discipline, but was reluctant to follow this particular order, knowing that she would stay behind._

_"Sakura-" Shino started, but was interrupted_

_"Leave. NOW!" Sakura ordered. The safety of her team was always put above anything else._

_Hesitantly, her two subordinates took off with renewed energy and speed. Kisame tried to follow after them but was intercepted by a certain bubblegum haired girl._

_"Do you really think you can defeat us both… by yourself, pinky?" Kisame laughed._

_"Do you really think you can get past me, sharky?" Sakura raised an eyebrow._

_That __got his attention, "Why you little…" but he stopped himself, laughing loudly. "You're an interesting one pinky."_

_Itachi stood quietly watching, then cleared his throat, "Let us pass kunoichi and we may not kill you."_

_"Over my dead body."_

_"Gladly, pinky." Kisame smirked._

_Sakura rapidly began making the appropriate hand seals, "Kaze no Yaiba!"_

_The wind picked up and surrounded them immediately. They covered themselves with a shield of chakra to try and block out the attack. The pair was unable to dodge this attack but came out with only minor injuries. She knew they would come after her now that she had gotten their attention and managed to land a hit on them, minor as it may have been. Konoha was safe for a while longer. She took off in the opposite direction and sure enough, they were hot on her trail._

_End Flashback_

Sakura racked her brain for something that might help her lose her followers. There wasn't much she could think of considering her chakra levels and exhaustion. A string of profanities found its way out of her mouth as the felt the two chakra signatures pursuing her, getting closer by the second. Then, nothing. They suddenly disappeared and all was quiet, not unlike the calm before a mean and, in this case, potentially bloody storm. She stilled and turned around, waiting for her pursuers to emerge from the trees. She swiftly turned and blocked a massive kick from an even more massive Kisame but was knocked unconscious by Itachi, who suddenly appeared behind her unguarded back.

"What should we do with her?" Kisame raised an eyebrow, looking down at the pile of pink on the ground.

"Kill her," Itachi answered casually, as though they were talking about something as common as the weather, instead of taking the life of another.

"She's interesting, and it would be a waste. Maybe we should take her to leader, she might even end up being useful, and she's the Hokage's apprentice after all. She could even heal you eyes, ne?"

Itachi examined his hand and tried to move his fingers, making no indication that he heard Kisame at all, but his partner waited patiently.

". . . Very well."

…

Sakura woke up with a splitting headache a few hours later and attempted to lift a hand to her head so she could alleviate the pain, only to find that she was couldn't mold her chakra accordingly, and she had unnaturally low chakra levels. Sure she had fought against two S-class missing nin, but she was certain that she hadn't used up as much chakra as she was missing.

_'Kisame must have used Samehada to drain our chakra, that bastard!' _Inner Sakura piped up, but that particular train of thought only served to heighten her headache as she recalled her earlier _encounter_ with Itachi and Kisame. Sakura fought back the urge to groan at her growing headache as she scanned the area for the two aforementioned criminals. As if on cue, Kisame made his way into what looked like a camp area.

"Hey you're up, pinky! How 'ya feeling?" Kisame smirked knowingly, aware of her migraine she must be having.

"Like shit," this time, Sakura did not fight back her groan as she rubbed her head gingerly. She glared up at him from her semi-sitting position on the ground that promised certain death as soon as she had the opportunity.

"Couldn't have you running away now could we?" His laughter echoed through the trees.

"Why didn't you kill me back there? What do you want with me?" the slightly injured pinkette demanded, snarling viciously—well, as vicious as one can while sitting down with a migrane, looking up at a seven foot shark with legs.

Itachi chose this moment to emerge from the trees and spoke up, "You will find out when we arrive."

_"...arrive? _Arrive where, exactly?_"_

"You ask too many questions, kid." Kisame said from his spot across the fire.

"Hn," came Itatchi's monosyllabic agreement.

Sakura huffed and ignored Kisame's ...insult? "Where are we?"

Kisame's laughter boomed throughout the campsite as Itachi answered her question. "We are in Bird Country."

Not quite in the mood to converse with their ...hostage, Itachi turned around to face the fire and took a fish cooking from the fire to give to Sakura. "Eat," he said simply, "You will need your energy, we leave at dawn."

"And what makes you think I'm going with you?" She asked, raising an elegant pink eyebrow

He simply looked at her for a moment, then turned around to tell Kisame he'd take first watch. His partner grunted and promptly headed for his sleeping bag and went to sleep.

_"Bastard,' _Inner Sakura reminded her.

The silence left Sakura to dwell in her thoughts. The reality was sinking in: she was captured by the infamous Akatskuki, she was far from Konoha-her friends, her home—and, being completely honest with herself, she didn't believe she would be getting back _ever. _Her vision blurred and her eyes burned with unshed tears. She blinked them back and steeled herself; she refused to be seen as weak, and showing emotions was definitely going to label her as just that. She may not have the energy to fight back right now, but she'd be damned if she was going to outright cooperate. Sakura would definitely be as difficult as she could be. Feeling temporarily comforted by her new found resolve, she threw the fish Itachi gave her into the fire and watched it burn. She let the quiet crackle of the flames lull her into an uneasy sleep.

Itachi observed the sleeping kunoichi from the corner of his eye. She was having a very fitful sleep, no doubt uneasy being in the company of such dangerous people. She suddenly shot up into a sitting position, eyes wide open. He raised an eyebrow at this and waited to see her reaction. Sakura looked around her, groggily and realized just _where _she was, and with _whom. _Her eyes widened a fraction before she got up and took a seat by the fire, directly in front of the fire; causing Itachi's eyebrow to lift even higher. He simply looked her over, his eyes finally resting on her emerald ones.

"What do you want with me?" Sakura met his gaze evenly, as she stared into the now charcoal grey eyes of her captor.

"You will find out when we arrive," he repeated.

Sakura, obviously unsatisfied with his characteristically vague response, huffed and looked into the fire, "_Arrive where?_"

"I am not fond of repeating myself, kunoichi."

_'Did you really think you'd get an answer this time?' _Inner Sakura spoke up.

_'Well I hoped,_' she returned

"My name is not kunoichi. It's Haruno Sakura."

"I am aware."

"Then use it!"

"Hn."

Once more, Sakura huffed and brought her knees to her chest, hugging them close to her. Suddenly, a thought struck her, "How's your hand?" She smirked.

"Hn." Itachi was not about to give some short, pink haired, green eyed, sorry excuse for a kunoichi the satisfaction of knowing she had been able to land a hit on _the _Uchicha Itachi_, _let alone the fact that it hurt him more than he cared to admit.

_'CHA! Serves you right!' Inner Sakura spoke up._

_'Since when do my conversations with _myself_ consist of more words than my conversations with the people in front of me; _real people?_'_

'_Since the person you're talking to was _Uchiha Itachi._'_

_'Right'_

"If you put some ice on it, it _may _help with some of the swelling," she told him smugly, "but there's not much you can do about the _sharp, burning pain._" She made sure to drag out the last few words to accentuate her point as she made her way back to the sleeping bag she had previously occupied.

"Hn," Itachi returned, choosing not to dignify her declaration with a proper response. He easily caught the stone that was aimed for the back of his head and threw it back, _right in front of her, _makingsure to remind her that had the rock been a weapon and had it been thrown with the intention to kill, she would be dead by now.

Once again, she huffed and tried to go back to sleep. Needless to say, she was unsuccessful.

_'Interesting,' _Itachi smirked as he continued to watch the fire.

Exhaustion finally took over Sakura's weary consciousness as she was thrown into yet another fitful sleep.

"_Sakura-taichou…" Mikage's wounded figure managed to croak out._

_Sakura took in her surroundings and concluded that she was in the battlefield she and her team had faced off against the Akatsuki in. Mikage was in a heap to her left, bathing in his own blood. There was a gaping hole right through his shoulder and his blood was steadily leaking through it. Several kunai were stabbed all over his back and a single katana pinned him to the ground. She looked to her right._

"_Sakura-san, please," Lee coughed, "Help." He had several bones jutting out and his left leg was fixed at an awkward angle definitely bent past its natural limits. He was heavily burned, parts of his skin charred to a nearly black color while his left arm was bled profusely._

_Sakura's breath hitched and her voice was caught in her throat as she looked around her. Shino was dangling lifelessly from a nearby tree covered in blood with several wounds all over his body. The entire vicinity was filled with the metallic smell of blood and burning flesh; death._

'_No…' Sakura tried to gather healing chakra to her hands, preparing to heal her comrades. She was frustrated to find that she couldn't accumulate an acceptable amount, nor could she mold it properly_

'_No!' She tried again and found that she was dangerously low on chakra, undoubtedly not enough to heal her teammates. Suddenly her view began to fade to black. 'I can't leave them like this... .'_

"_Sakura-san, please don't leave..." she heard Lee plead._

"NO!" Sakura awoke to find herself back in the company of her captors, trembling, eyes burning with unshed tears.

"Keep it down, kunoichi. It's too early for loud noises," Kisame's voice carried over the campsite with no real malice.

She just groaned.

"There is a stream nearby, you may make your way there and bathe yourself," came Itachi's assent, completely uncaring of her unstable state of mind.

"I _may_?" Sakura's previous nightmare temporarily forgotten. _Who did he think he was?_ The fact that they were letting her go without some kind of supervision or restraints only served to aggravate her further. They clearly didn't see her as any kind of a threat; _weak._

"Yes, _you may,_" Kisame chuckled at Itachi's expected reply.

Sakura mumbled something under her breath, along the lines of 'insufferable idiot, I don't believe this!' as she rubbed her still aching head. Itachi tossed her a pair of simple black pants and matching mesh t-shirt, she looked up, puzzled.

"Your clothes are dirty and blood stained. I doubt you would like to change back into them after cleaning yourself off," Itachi stated coolly. She briefly humoured the idea of ripping the offered clothes into tiny shreds and dropping them into the newly lit fire, but then considered the idea of putting on her own dirty clothes and decided that the alternative was only slightly more favourable.

'_Damn him and his logic.'_

Of course Kisame wouldn't give her his clothes, as she would just drown in their depths. Despite her current mood, Sakura couldn't help but inwardly giggle at the mental picture.

It was still early and the sun had not risen yet, meaning the water had yet to be warmed by the sun's rays and she didn't have enough chakra to perform a fire jutsu to warm it herself; she was in for a cold bath. Regardless, Sakura was looking forward to washing the blood, dirt, and grime off her person.

"You think maybe I shoulda left her some more chakra? I mean, how is she gonna keep up if she can barely walk?" Kisame asked his stoic partner.

"Hn," came the reply

"Plus she didn't eat yesterday."

"That was due to her own stubborn foolishness."

"I don't think she'd be too happy about the idea of one of us carrying her all the way there."

"Hn."

With a sigh, Kisame dropped the topic and continued cleaning up camp, ensuring that there were no traces of their being there.

Sakura lowered herself into the water and began scrubbing away the remnants of her struggle. Her slow, methodical rhythm brought her thoughts back to her dream. She shivered at the thought. _'That was impossible, they got away safely and back to Konoha,' _she reassured herself. She saw with her own two eyes. But she couldn't shake the feeling of helplessness when she was unable to help her dying teammates. She had forgotten this feeling and it came back full force, reminding her of her days as a genin; she was weak. Sakura rinsed her hair and got out of the cold water and did her best to keep her mind off such thoughts.

_'No use in dwelling on the past, Sakura. Get over it and move on!' _Inner Sakura urged.

To help keep her from wandering to her dream, she tried to think of a way to escape Kisame and Itachi. No doubt they would drain her chakra again once it got to a level that she'd be able to fight back. So she'd have to... gain their trust? Which means she have to be _nice _to them…or something; she visibly recoiled at such a thought. But this was the only way she could think of that they'd let her keep an acceptable amount of chakra. _'So much for fighting them tooth and nail, making their lives as miserable as humanly possible.' _Sakura preferred that plan of attack better, but her current plan would definitely be more effective. So it was settled; she would make..._friends_ with her captors.

Steeling herself, Sakura dried off and put on the clothes given to her and began making her way back to camp

Upon her return, Sakura noticed that the two had cleaned up and there were eating ...fish.

"What, no pancakes for breakfast?"

"Sorry, little blossom, gourmet breakfasts are saved for when we get to the base," Kisame chuckled.

_'K, so we're going to some kind of base,' she mused. _"Uh, isn't that kind of gross? That's... kind of a cousin, isn't it?"

This time, Itachi smirked at the expense of his partner.

"Ouch, that hurt little blossom," the large shark nin feigned hurt

"I have a name you know."

"I know, but isn't little blossom better?"

"Then use it! And no, it really isn't"

Itachi interrupted their mild bickering, "You seem to enjoy repeating yourself, _kunoichi._"

_'oh. hell. no. He did _not _just go there.' _Inner Sakura was fuming

_'Make friends, Sakura, be _nice._' _She reminded herself, and with the self control her mentor most certainly did _not_ have, she bit back her vile response, instead sweetly saying, "Why of course _Itachi, _sometimes people need to be reminded constantly in order to get the message."

Inner Sakura sweat-dropped, _'Smoooth, he'll definitely want to be your friend now.'_

"Hn."

_'Of course, what else did we expect,' _Inner Sakura rolled her eyes.

"You're an interesting one, little blossom. It would be a waste if Itachi killed you though, so you should watch what you say," Kisame boomed with laughter.

"Eat kunoichi; we leave in half an hour," Itachi said as he turned away from them to finish packing up, effectively ending the conversation.

"Sa-ku-ra. Is that so hard?" she persisted

She immediately found herself pinned up against a tree, looking up wide-eyed into a pair of crimson eyes.

"You forget your place, need I remind you, _Sa-ku-ra_?" he said, looking down at her menacingly.

She couldn't quite find her voice, so she settled for glaring viciously at him. She was speechless and, though she'd never admit it out loud, she was more afraid for her life than she could remember. Alarms in her head were demanding she break the staring contest and look away, _anywhere _but in his eyes. Being so close to him, she realized that his eyes were the deepest shade of red, almost like blood. The thought sent shivers down her spine; Itachi misinterpreted it as fear and smirked down at her. For a long moment, they said nothing and continued to stare into the other's eyes. Finally, Itachi straightened and let her go making his way to the stream.

"It would be wise to heed Kisame's warning," he called after him. Sakura let out a breath she was unaware she had been holding as she gingerly rubbed her wrists.

"I told you to watch what you say," Kisame offered her some breakfast, which she politely refused. "Geez, little blossom, I really thought he was gonna kill you. You may be one of the only people who taunted and made fun of Itachi without being killed!"

"It's an honor then," Sakura said satirically.

Inner Sakura was slightly disconcerted,_ 'So much for making friends.'_

The two engaged in light conversation for the next half hour and Sakura was surprised, to say the least, that an S-class missing nin—of Akatsuki, no less—was capable of such a thing, especially when he was seven feet tall and looked like a shark. They continued this way until Itachi emerged from the trees, signaling his partner that it was time to move.

"Come, we are leaving," he regarded the Sakura.

"Didn't I say I'm not coming?"

"You are being difficult," he deadpanned, the tomoe of his sharingan spinning rapidly in an attempt at looking more menacing, not that he need it.

Much to Sakura's dismay, it worked.

"Damn straight. Until I get some answers, I'm not moving from this spot!" she declared, doing her best to hide the fear that was dangerously close to the surface.

The stoic Uchiha sighed at her immature response, "Kisame."

"Right," the shark nin said dutifully.

That was the last thing she heard before she was promptly knocked out.

**A/N:** Well there it is. Thanks for reading :D

This is my first fanfiction and I would love to hear your opinions. both support and constructive criticism are welcomed!

Hope you enjoyed. Reviews are highly appreciated :D


	2. Chapter 2

**Last Priority**

**Chapter 2**

_Enjoy (:_

_-_

_Previously on Last Priority…_

_"You are being difficult."_

_"Damn straight. Until I get some answers, I'm not moving from this spot!"_

_The stoic Uchiha sighed at her immature response, "Kisame."_

_"Right," the shark nin said dutifully, "Sorry, little blossom."_

_That was the last thing she heard before she was promptly knocked out._

-

Once again, Sakura awoke confused, sore, and with a terrible headache, but this time, she realized she had enough chakra to ease the pain pounding throughout her skull. She lifted herself into a sitting position and noticed she was on a bed this time, as opposed to the cold ground she had gotten used to. Sakura looked to the window and assumed it must be sometime past midnight, considering the position of the moon. _'I can't believe I slept through nearly a whole day,' _she reflected. The young kunoichi examined the room she was currently occupying. It was simply furnished with a standard size closet in a corner, a small bedside table beside the bed, and a larger table to work on opposite the bed with a chair neatly tucked under it. There was one more thing and Sakura felt was rather out of place; a full length mirror beside the window. It seemed highly improbable that ninja of such high caliber would be concerned about something as trivial as their appearance when clearly, they had more important things to worry about. Nevertheless, Sakura was not complaining, because above all else, she was a girl, and she did mind what she looked like, she at least tried to look presentable. There were two doors opposite each other; one, she guessed led to the halls, and the other to a washroom.

Sakura decided she could use a quick shower and made her way to the washroom quietly.

-

After a refreshing hot shower, Sakura exited the washroom, a trail of steam following her out the door, and stood by the window, looking outside. She scanned the room, searching for any clues or hidden weapons, anything that may help her escape, sometime in the near future she hoped. The petit kunoichi realized that her room was not under surveillance, nor were the doors or windows sealed with chakra.

'_So they don't think we can escape if we left this room,' _Inner Sakura wasn't sure whether to be insulted or disappointed. Did that mean they just highly underestimated her, or was this base really _that _secure, that someone of her skills would be hopeless to escape.

Sakura was certain she wouldn't be able to go back to sleep after her _little nap_, so she decided to explore the grounds a little, since they didn't seem to care whether she left the room or not. With this mindset, she opened the door quietly, careful not to wake anyone that may be near, and walked out carefully. After several minutes of _exploration _(wandering around the corridors, hopelessly lost), Sakura found herself in the kitchen/dining area. There was a large, rectangular table made to seat ten people. Sitting in one of those seats, curse her luck, was none other than Itachi. He looked up briefly at her arrival then resumed his fascination with the cup of tea cradled in his hands.

"Sit," he motioned for the empty seat in front of him. Not really in the mood to argue, she complied and took a sat down. "I have notified Leader of our arrival. You are expected to meet with him tomorrow morning after breakfast," he quietly informed her.

"Is he going to tell me why I'm here?" …wherever _here_ happened to be.

A heartbeat of silence. "Perhaps."

Sakura looked around her and studied her surroundings. Beside the table, to her right, was a large window, stretching from the ceiling to the ground and was at least fifteen yards wide, with a breathtaking view of a field that seemed to stretch on for miles. The kitchen area was fairly simple, consisting of a large fridge, a stove, a microwave, and a reasonably sized pantry. _'Hm, so they can cook.' _Separating the kitchen and dining area was an oblong-shaped island, a few bar stools tucked under it. There was a door opposite the one she entered through, but what it lead to, she was still uncertain.

The atmosphere was extremely tense, but Itachi rather didn't notice, or didn't care. Sakura, on the other hand, was struggling to think of something to talk about; she couldn't stand the awkward silence that had settled between them.

'_Be nice! Make friends!' _Inner Sakura yelled at her.

"Where are we?" she managed to say, though her voice was a bit higher than she would have liked.

"We are near the village of Miyagi in earth country, approximately two days away if travelled by foot," he stood up and made his way to the stove, pulling out some shrimp tempura and chow mein. Then he poured some tea and put placed the food on the table in front her, before taking his seat in front of her. "Eat," he instructed.

"Ah, no thank you, I'm not really hungry," her stomach silently protested to her stubbornness.

He simply looked at her and she met his gaze evenly. After a few silent moments, the intensity in his charcoal eyes became too much and Sakura looked away, to the field outside illuminated eerily by a full moon.

Itachi sighed. It would only cause more trouble if she were to become sick and he would no doubt have to tend to her. "Sakura," he called, _almost_ gently, closing his eyes. Her head snapped back to look at him with wide eyes. "Eat, otherwise you may fall ill."

Taken aback by his sudden change, she found herself reaching for the food he set out for her and began to eat. "H-hai. Thank you."

Itachi watched her silently as she slowly ate her food. He had half expected her to nearly inhale the food in front of her, considering she hadn't eaten in nearly two days, but she ate with a grace befitting of royalty. He studied her carefully, taking note of the stiffness in her shoulders. She was definitely still wary of him, and being in his presence clearly put her on edge, but for some reason, she put out the impression of being at ease.

It was unnerving, to say the least, to be under the close scrutiny of the infamous Uchiha Itachi, even with his sharingan deactivated. Sakura tried her very best to seem unfazed by his close observation, but inside, she was terrified. She ate her food silently and prayed to Kami that she could get out of there and away from Itachi as soon as possible. She racked her brain for something to talk about, perhaps lighten the mood, even just a fraction.

"Are all of the members in Akatsuki here?"

"No."

"Oh."

'_Great, so much for that conversation…' _her inner self sweat-dropped.

Another long moment of silence.

"Nice weather, ne?" _'Smooth, Sakura, just great,' _she inwardly kicked herself.

Itachi's eyes drifted towards the window, gazing at the field, "I suppose."

"Heh-heh-heh…" She inwardly sighed and returned to her plate of food. She continued to eat in silence and when she finished, she placed her dishes in the sink and excused herself, in a hurry to get as far away from the Uchiha as possible.

"I will walk you to your room," Itachi stated more than offers.

"Ah, thank you. I got lost on my way here," Sakura laughed awkwardly.

"Hn." They made their way to her room in silence. When they arrived at her door, she bowed and thanked him again, turning to walk into her room.

"Goodnight…Sakura." Despite his less than honorable reputation, Uchiha Itachi was still raised with manners, to be a proper gentleman.

Sakura's eyes widened a fraction, but quickly recovered as she let a small smile grace her lips, "Goodnight Itachi," with that, she closed the door after her.

Once again, Sakura was left by herself and her own thoughts, but now, she definitely had a few things to think about

-

Okay, so maybe Itachi wasn't _quite _as insufferable as she had made him out to be. When he wanted to, he could actually be almost, maybe, kind of… nice.

'_Plus, he is _hot. _No wait, scratch that, Uchiha Itachi is downright sexy,' _Inner Sakura added.

She sighed. Haruno Sakura was not the type of person to lie to herself, at least, she liked to think she wasn't. She had to admit that Itachi was somewhat attractive, but that didn't change the fact that he killed his entire clan in cold blood, in a single night, no less. Surely that took all kinds of evil to accomplish, right? Not to forget about his cold, mocking, threatening behavior at the campsite. But, to be fair, he did offer her food; no, he demanded she eat the fish and practically threw it at her. _'He lent us his clothes!' _Inner Sakura defended, _'Which we are still wearing, by the way.' _The pants reached her ankle, which she had to fold up a few times, and his shirt cut off mid thigh, the sleeves reaching just past her elbows. But, they were still very comfortable.

No way was that the same person she had just bid goodnight mere minutes ago. The Itachi she was just with was gentle, polite, and considerate. Oh hell, she was just saying _positive _things about the enemy. Sakura wasted no time in reminding herself that she was a captive here; these men around her were her most definitely _not _gentle, polite, or considerate. They were S-class missing nin who murdered countless innocent people without so much as a second thought. She convinced herself that she was only trying to make her job easier by _pretending_ that they were, so it would be easier to get along with them. It was all part of the plan of course, and _not_ because she truly believed that Itachi was likeable, in _any _way, shape or form… at all. No, she was definitely saying these things about him because her plan demanded she be friends with him, as well as the other members of the Akatsuki, and that would be nearly impossible without a little help, trying to make them sound a bit better than they were. With that final thought, she made her way to the bed and tried to go back to sleep.

So much for not lying to yourself, Sakura.

-

Sakura woke up that morning with, miraculously, no headache; she was delighted, to say the least. Rubbing the remnants of sleep from her eyes, she got out of bed groggily and made her way to the bathroom. She grabbed her toothbrush* and brushed her teeth before setting off for the kitchen for some breakfast, determined, even in her drowsy state, not to get lost.

-

"Say what?" Deidara asked incredulously, "Why would you bring her here, yeah?"

"She's the Hokage's apprentice and all, so we thought it would be 'beneficial', in Itachi's words, to have a medic with us, and maybe heal Itachi's eyes," Kisame offered.

Itachi raised an eyebrow at this, "If I'm not mistaken, Kisame, you said that it would be a waste to dispose of her because you had grown fond of her… " he paused to consider an appropriate word

"Courage," the shark nin finished, "She's been testing Itachi's patience this whole time, it was hilarious!"

"Still," the blonde began, "I don't think Sasori-danna would like having her around here, yeah."

His partner chose this opportune moment to 'poof!' into the dining area and take a seat in front of Itachi, nodding his greeting to the rest of the table. "I wouldn't like having _who_ around here, exactly?" He narrowed his eyes at his companions.

As if on cue, Sakura also entered the room, and all eyes were directed at her. Her eyes widened as she recognized the other two Akatsuki members. "What – I! – how," she stumbled over her words, unable to form a coherent sentence. "_I killed you!_" finally pointing an accusatory finger at the red-haired nin.

Sasori smirked at her apparent disbelief, "I suppose God has different plans for me." He respected the young kunoichi for being able to bring him down and despite the fact that she did not accomplish the task alone, she had been a formidable opponent. He held no grudge against her, nor did he wish to exact his revenge on her.

"How - " she started.

Kisame interrupted before anything got too serious, "Morning little blossom, this is Sasori and Deidara," he pointed to the missing nin respectively, "but I see you've already met. Come sit and have some breakfast."

Sakura eyed Sasori warily before taking a seat next to Kisame and nodding to Deidara in greeting. Said blonde slid a plate of pancakes in front of her, which caused her to raise an eyebrow. "Pancakes? Really Kisame, I didn't think you were serious."

Kisame chuckled before patting her on the head and telling her to dig in. She ate her breakfast slowly as she got acquainted with the other two members in front of her. Her first breakfast had been _almost_ comfortable, but only because her plan required she make friends with the criminals, she hastily reminded herself. Sasori had turned out to be a decent person, very articulate and a pleasure to talk to, _kind of_. She had expected him to be gruff, indifferent, and uninterested; quite the opposite, really. Deidara, on the other hand, was light hearted, sarcastic, and liked to tease everyone; he reminded her of Naruto. Sakura quieted down after her mind decided to leave their conversation to think about her home in Konoha.

Itachi stood then, "Come, Sakura."

Her head snapped up at her name, still unaccustomed to hearing her name come out of his mouth. She was grateful for an excuse to leave the table into the privacy of her room before the tears threatened to surface. She excused herself from the table, giving her thanks for the breakfast and company, and walked off behind Itachi. Their walk, yet again, was quiet and uneventful, in other words, extremely tense and awkward. Sakura's gaze travelled to his hand that, courtesy of her chakra laced punch, was completely swollen and rather mutilated. However, he unfailingly managed to keep up his façade, making it look absolutely normal, and not the horribly painful mess of bones she knew it was. Sakura decided she should probably heal it, _so she could gain his trust and further her plan, _of course, and her decision was most definitely _not _influenced by the guilt that washed over her.

"Um, Itachi?"

"Hn," he inclined his head a fraction of an inch to show he was listening.

"How's your hand?" she asked with genuine concern

He sensed the absence of her smug tone that question had been laced with the last time she asked him, "It is fine."

"I can heal it, if you… don't mind."

He entertained the idea in head for a few silent moments as Sakura patiently waited for his response. Itachi came to an abrupt stop, almost causing her to crash into his back, and turned around, holding his hand out to her, "I do not mind." She was shocked, to say the least, that he accepted her offer. She hadn't really expected him to, but she was glad he did. Sakura brought her hands up to grasp his large, injured one and began probing through the mess of broken bones to assess the damage. The bones from his palm had all been broken in 3 places at least, a few of them were forced back from the impact and were currently scraping painfully against the back the flesh of his hand. She could see a few of the bones making angry purple bruises everywhere. It would be particularly painful just to open and close the hand, but Itachi showed no evidence of such pain.

Itachi watched the small kunoichi in front of him as she closed her eyes and bit her lip in mild concentration. Her chakra felt warm and soothing as the pain began to subside. He almost let out a sigh of relief but caught himself before he let it out, refusing to show her how much the pain had troubled him before she healed it. Finally, she finished and extracted her hands from his, to Itachi's silent dismay. He found himself almost missing the warm contact—wait. He did _not _just admit he missed that. Uchiha Itachi does not _miss_ anything; he did not miss his family after he killed them, he did not miss his younger brother when he left, and he most certainly did _not _miss the warm contact this small kunoichi had offered for a few brief minutes. _Absolutely not. _He examined his hand and gave a quiet grunt of approval as they continued on their way back to Sakura's room.

"Thank you," he said as she walked through the door. "I will return shortly to take you to Leader."

"You're welcome," she said with a smile before disappearing through the door.

Sakura decided she was in due need for a bath, so she stepped out of her clothes, well Itachi's really, and into the bathtub and turned the hot water knob. As she soaked herself in the tub, she saw something beside the sink. It was a change of clothes identical to the once she had been previously wearing.

'_Itachi brought us clothes!' _Inner Sakura pointed out delighted, _'Drop dead gorgeous _and _thoughtful. Ding, Ding, Ding we haave a winner!'_

'_Shut up, he is _not_ thoughtful, he is a psychopathic killer! And he's hardly _gorgeous._'_

'_Yeah, whatever. You keep telling yourself that.' _Sakura spent the rest of her supposedly relaxing bath trying _not_ to think about a certain, black-haired, crimson/charcoal-eyed, _'unnaturally good looking' _Inner Sakura added, ninja, which proved to be rather difficult. Instead, she pushed her thoughts to her plan of escape. Bad idea. She's reminded that her half-baked excuses to justify her thoughts on Itachi all point to her plan of making _friends. 'What do they want with me?' _Sakura was beginning to get frustrated. Did they need her medical skills? Finally deciding to get out, she climbed out of the tub and dried herself off, before putting on the new clothes set out for her.

As soon as she closed the door to the washroom, she heard a knock on the come from the other door, "Leader has requested your company; are you decent?"

"Yeah, you can come in," she called, and he did just that. He opened the door and stepped in. "Thank you for the clothes, Itachi-san."

"Hn," he led her through a series of corridors in silence, before stopping in front of a particularly menacing looking door. Just looking at the door sent shivers down her spine, and she silently wondered if she was going to be in there alone with their Leader.

"Are you coming in with me?"

"No, I will be waiting outside to escort you back to your room when you are finished."

Sakura sighed and prepared herself for the worst; taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door. It was opened to reveal a single desk with a dark silhouette sitting on the far side of it. Throwing one last glance at Itachi, she walked in and closed the door behind her.

_-_

"Ah Haruno Sakura, take a seat," Pein ordered quietly.

Sakura wanted nothing more than to back up into the nearest wall and become one with the shadows, melting into the walls, but her dignity forced her to sit down as instructed. The man in front of her eyed her carefully, looking for anything suspicious, while she simply stared at a point above his shoulder, unwilling to meet his gaze.

"You are no doubt wondering about your…captivity here," she nodded. "I have a proposition for you Sakura, if I may call you that."

Sakura's mind went into overdrive, so they wanted something from her and from what she had learned, these _propositions _usually meant blackmail. Somewhere along the lines of 'Do what we say or else you'll face a fate worse than death'. But what could they possibly want from her? Her healing? Information about the village? _What?! _Sakura sat patiently waited for Pein to continue.

"I am aware that you and the Kyuubi vessel share a close relationship," She did not like where this was heading. "I am also aware of your protective nature over the ones who are…what was it…_precious to you. _I was thrilled when I had heard of your capture—"

"Cut to the chase," Sakura narrowed her eyes dangerously at him, her previous trepidation forgotten.

"Why Sakura-san, you must be patient. You should be grateful that we are giving you the freedom of choice. But I will _'cut to the chase'_ as you so charmingly phrased it. I understand that you were under the tutelage of Copy Ninja: Hatake Kakashi and the Godaime Hokage Tsunade, therefore I extend a formal invitation to join our cause as I am certain your unique skills will be a great addition. Should you choose to accept my invitation, I can ensure the safety of the Kyuubi and his vessel. The Akatsuki will not pursue Uzumaki Naruto from this point on. However, if you decline my offer, I can also ensure a slow and painful death for both you and the vessel, and possibly all those who you share a relationship with. Our goals have shifted and we no longer require the tailed beasts to achieve them, but, as I'm sure you are already aware, there are plenty of other methods to put you and Naruto-kun to death."

Sakura's face went blank as she processed the information, when it finally registered, her eyes widened like saucers and all she could hear was the blood pounding in her ears. Her face paled and she felt her pulse quicken in her neck, despite her best efforts to stay calm. But really, how calm can a person be after hearing that their best friend, and possibly everyone they ever knew, will die if they refuse to join forces with one of their village's worst threats? Pein watched her like a hawk as he waited for an opportunity to speak again.

"You do not have to decide now Sakura-san, I will send for you in two days time. Think it over carefully."

She sat there for a few uncomfortable moments, trying to swallow the large lump lodged in her throat, until she got up without a word and left his office. She was too immersed in her own thoughts to acknowledge Itachi's presence as she padded softly to her own room. He sensed her distress and decided it would be best to give her some space. He didn't follow her to her private quarters; instead, he made his way down to the kitchen.

_-_

**A/N: **Sooo Sakura has some real thinking to do... Pein is eeeevil!

Anyway, I had fun writing this chapter, thankyou for reading!

Hope you enjoyed. Reviews are highly appreciated.


	3. Chapter 3

**Last Priority**

**Chapter 3**

_Enjoy (:_

_-_

"_You do not have to decide now Sakura-san, I will send for you in two days time. Think it over carefully."_

_She sat there for a few uncomfortable moments, trying to swallow the large lump lodged in her throat, until she got up without a word and left his office. She was too immersed in her own thoughts to acknowledge Itachi's presence as she padded softly to her own room. He sensed her distress and decided it would be best to give her some space. He didn't follow her to her private quarters; instead, he made his way down to the kitchen._

_-_

Sakura closed the door and promptly slumped to the ground, leaning her back against the door for support. Only then did she let her tears fall, silently. '_Naruto,' _she thought lovingly._ S_he had no choice; there was no room for argument. Sakura would do whatever she could to protect him... but what about the countless innocent people she would be hurting? If she chose to join the Akatsuki, they would definitely need her to heal their injuries. After healing them, they would no doubt set out to harm or kill even more people, some of which could be from Konoha. But how could she send Naruto to his death, knowing she had a say in the matter? Surely his death would affect many others, but at least they would all be alive. Was she being selfish in wanting to protect her surrogate brother, even at the cost of innocent others? Sakura knew that he would disapprove of her joining them, even if he knew why, but she couldn't bring herself to…in a sense, kill her best friend, and mention the possibility of everyone she loved.

'_Sorry Naruto, but I think I've made my decision.'_ She would give up his friendship, knowing he would hate her, because she knew that she was protecting him. She would demand—although she was clearly in no position to be doing such things— that the Akatsuki stay away from Konoha and refrain from hurting anyone from her village. It was definitely worth a try. Sakura couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt hit her, knowing she would cause Naruto, Kakashi, Ino, Tsunade, and everyone she cared about a great deal of pain after they found out she had betrayed them and joined the enemy. Naruto had been miserable when Sasuke left and all he ever did was train and go on missions, telling her that he would get stronger and bring him back. They only had each other and Kakashi then, and they had become more like a family than ever, seeing as none of them had any family left. Sakura's parents were both killed on her 15th birthday and she leaned heavily on the remaining Team 7 members for support. She thought of Kakashi then; surely he would be disappointed in her, but knowing him, he would likely blame himself for what had happened. He blamed himself for Sasuke's defection, and he had lost his entire team when he was younger, and now it was happening all over again. She apologized to all of her precious people and offered a silent prayer to keep them safe and out of the path of the Akatsuki, or any harm for that matter.

Sakura would not make excuses for herself, if ever she came across one of her comrades in the battlefield. She would accept whatever they had to say to her and she wouldn't try to change their minds by telling them that it was all to protect them. Ultimately, this had been her fault; she was too weak to prevent herself from being captured and she had gotten herself in this predicament. Nevertheless, she was glad her teammates had been able to get away safely. Sakura wiped away her tears, but it was no use, they refused to stop falling, so she made her way to her bed and cried herself to sleep.

So it was decided, she was joining the Akatsuki.

-

Itachi walked into the kitchen and seeing that Deidara and Kisame were sitting at the table, he decided to take a seat with them to try and get his mind off a certain pink-haired kunoichi. He couldn't seem to get her troubled features from his mind and hoped that a conversation these two him would help.

It seemed that they had other plans though, "What did Leader say?" Kisame inquired.

"I was not present at their meeting," came the monotonous reply.

"And you didn't even bother to ask her, yeah?" Deidara raised his visible eyebrow.

"She was preoccupied. I assume it was…unpleasant."

The blonde sighed, "Well, we all know she was _asked _to join, yeah?"

Kisame looked outside, watching the horizon line contemplatively, "Yeah, the question is what Leader promised her if she says no."

Everyone fell silent as they were reminded of their individual inductions into Akatsuki. Needless to say, they were unpleasant memories.

-

_Later that evening…_

Deidara stared ahead at the oak door in front of him; this was the third time he was doing this, and he had no doubt that the outcome would be the same as the previous two times. He knocked gently and waited a few moments before slowly opening the door.

"I'm coming in, yeah." He placed a plate of food on the bedside table, switching it with the plate of untouched food he had put out before. "Oy, you need to eat something, yeah," he glanced at her unmoving figure, "You're gonna get sick." Seeing that she had no intention of budging from her spot on the bed, he pulled the blanket up to her shoulders and left the room quietly, shaking his head, before he made his way to the kitchen.

Itachi, Kisame, and Sasori looked up at his arrival.

Kisame looked at the plate of cold food in the blonde's hand and sighed, "She still ain't eating?"

Deidara just shook her head and took his seat at the table, and he continued to eat his dinner. They resumed their conversation of…whatever it was S-class criminals talked about over dinner.

Itachi finished his meal and excused himself from the table, he decided to try and get the kunoichi to eat something. It would certainly be a waste of effort bringing her here if she were to fall ill and perhaps die now. At least, that what he kept telling himself. He knocked on her door and waited briefly. Upon receiving no reply, he opened the door and reached the side of Sakura's bed in four smooth strides.

"Sakura," he called softly, "It is late and you have not eaten anything all day."

Nothing.

"I know you are not asleep."

Again, silence.

Itachi sighed and pulled a chair to the side of her bed and sat down, eyes boring into her back. "Leader would be unhappy if he were to find out you had fallen ill. I suggest you eat the food Deidara has set out for you."

Once again, silence. He closed his eyes and waited. If she wanted to say something, she would when she was ready.

"…Itachi?" Sakura finally croaked out after a few silent minutes. He looked up to indicate he heard, "Why did you join the Akatsuki?"

He hadn't been expecting that, that's for sure. Was she really considering joining them? "My reasons are my own."

She nodded and sat up, leaning against the headboard to look out the window. It was a beautiful night, there was a full moon and it was reflecting off a lake nearby, the sky was clear, and the stars could be seen easily. However, Sakura couldn't admire the beauty of the night as she had other things on her mind.

"What did he offer you?" Itachi inquired.

She looked down at her hands, hoping he couldn't see the tears threatening to fall once more. "Naruto's safety, if I join. If not, he'll kill us both, and everyone I care about," she replied softly.

He nodded, stood up wordlessly and brought her food, "Eat, it is not wise to make heavy decisions on an empty stomach."

Sakura looked at him skeptically, "What kind of logic is that?"

"If you are hungry, then you cannot think clearly," he stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"…Oh, right," she took the plate of food from him. "Your Leader said that your objectives have changed and that you don't need the tailed beasts anymore. What exactly are you new goals?"

"I am in no position to disclose that information with you, Sakura. The fact that he did not tell you himself means that he would prefer you be kept in the dark about this particular matter for the time being."

"I guess, but what if I agree to …join and it turns out you guys end up trying to conquer and destroy the world or something?"

Itachi raised an eyebrow, "I can assure you we will not _conquer and destroy the world_ or anything along those lines."

Sakura sighed, "What if I have to kill innocent people?"

"Whatever you make of this situation is up to you. We will not try influence your decision."

"I know, but I really wish you would… What would you do?"

Itachi just shook his head, the look in his eyes saying, _'That would be influencing your decision.'_

She sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time that day, and they both looked out the window, lost in their own thoughts. He decided it was time to leave, so he took Sakura's empty plate, stood up, and started walking towards the door.

"Hey, Itachi?"

He paused mid-step, "Hn."

"Thank you."

He inclined his head a fraction of an inch, "Goodnight Sakura."

"Goodnight Itachi," she smiled slightly, through her tears.

-

Despite her current predicament, Sakura smiled as her eyes travelled to the door Itachi had just exited through. Maybe it was just the stress getting to her, but if Sakura didn't know any better, she'd think that he actually _cared. _Even if it was just a small, tiny, miniscule part of him…yup, the stress was definitely driving her over the edge. _No way_ _in hell_ would Uchiha Itachi, mass murderer, care about anyone or anything and it was foolish of her to even entertain such a ludicrous thought. But still, the look in his eye was considerably softer and gentler than she had ever seen on him before. She didn't even think he was capable of such a thing. He may not have _cared_ about her, so to speak, but at least he was kind to her and that was more than she could have ever expected from an S-class criminal. _'Maybe my life as a missing nin won't be so bad,'_ she thought optimistically. Sakura shivered at the very idea, she would never get used to that. Hoping to clear her mind, she sank back into her bed and tried to go to sleep.

-

Itachi closed the door to Sakura's room quietly and dropped off the dirty dish to the kitchen before he made his way to his room. He planned to take a nice, long shower to rid his thoughts of a certain pink haired medic nin who seemed to be entertaining his thoughts more often lately, although he was fairly certain the chances of that happening were very unlikely. Why was he thinking about her anyway? Why did he go to her room to check if she was alright and try and get her to eat? Most importantly, why couldn't he get her off his mind? She was not exceptional, she was emotionally unstable, making her weak, she got roused much too easily, and there were other kunoichi out there who were stronger than her. Why was it then that he found this particular individual so fascinating? This train of thought was giving him quite the headache and his long, hot shower did nothing to help ease troubled mind. Itachi got out and dried himself off, before making his way to his bed which promised an uneasy sleep.

-

Unable to go to sleep, Sakura decided that a nice warm cup of tea would help calm her nerves, hopefully then she could rest her weary mind. With that thought in mind, she slipped out of her room and into the kitchen. Upon arriving, she noticed she wasn't alone; the blonde Akatsuki member, Deidara, she believed, was sitting at the table pouring himself some tea.

He looked up at her and cocked his head slightly, "Couldn't sleep, yeah?"

Sakura shook her head.

"Come sit, and have some tea, yeah. That should help."

She did as told and murmured her silent thanks. Deidara passed her a cup of blueberry tea.

"Thank you for bringing me food today, and I'm sorry if I was being… difficult," Sakura stared into the depths of her tea.

"No problem. I saw an empty plate in the sink, yeah; I'm guessing that's yours? About being difficult, no worries, it's a hard decision and no one blames you for acting the way you did, it was expected, yeah. We'd probably be worried if you didn't act the way you did," he flashed her a reassuring grin.

"Yeah I ate, it was delicious," she couldn't help but smile back. "Did everyone join the Akatsuki the same way?"

"Pretty much, yeah, maybe one or two of us joined by their own free will, but mostly everyone was _persuaded_. We all got used to it though, and it really isn't that bad after a while."

"That makes it sound like you're settling."

Deidara considered this for a while, taking a sip of his tea, "I guess you're right, but what else can we do, yeah?"

She followed suit, closing her eyes in satisfaction, before speaking again, "Has anyone ever tried to escape?"

"Only one yeah, Orochimaru, that dumbass."

"Oh, yeah… What did you have to give up in order to be here?"

"Well, you gotta think of it as not so much _giving up,_ but getting in return, yeah? I was already a missing nin before joining up, so it's not like I had much to lose," he paused to take another sip.

Sakura nodded and waited patiently.

"My sister was still with me though. I told her not to follow me because I knew that being a ninja wasn't what she wanted to do, yeah, and besides, it's dangerous. She wanted to be a cook and run her own restaurant, but she didn't listen. A few months after leaving Iwa, One of the members approached me and made me an offer. They said they'd give my sister a chance at her dream; they'd give her a job at a restaurant, complete with everything she needs, and when she gets old enough, she'd be able to run it herself. In exchange, I would join the Akatsuki, yeah. If not, they'd rape her and kill her in front of me."

She gasped at the thought, and Deidara looked away, to the ever convenient window to his side.

"Obviously I joined up. In terms of _giving up_, I gave up the chance to see my sister, but in return, she's out living her dream. I'm sure she hates me for joining such a dangerous group of criminals, yeah, but I don't intend to tell her why. See, the thing with the Akatsuki is that they don't really give you a choice, yeah."

Sakura was speechless for a few long moments. "I'm sorry… but you did the right thing."

"I know. Don't be sorry, it wasn't your fault, yeah. But I don't know what Leader could have threatened Uchiha with, he doesn't like anything or care about anyone, yeah, and if he offered him his dreams or something… Uchiha would have just said no, because being handed your dreams just isn't right. Besides, he doesn't have any dreams."

Sakura laughed at this, thankful for the change in atmosphere as they drank their tea in comfortable silence. "What would you do, if you were me?" She said finally.

Deidara shook his head, "Sorry, but that's your decision to make, and yours alone, yeah."

"You sound like Itachi," she pouted, despite the heavy aura that settled about them again.

"If you ask anyone else here, they'll tell you the same thing. This is a big decision to make, we can't decide the way your life is gonna end up, yeah."

"Do you ever regret joining?"

The question caught Diedara off guard, causing him to choke lightly on the tea that had been making its way down his throat. "I never thought about it, yeah. I don't think I do, 'cuz that would mean I regret giving my sister a chance at her dream, and that I regret not having her raped and killed. I wanted her to stay away from me anyway, 'cuz it ain't good to be around a criminal, yeah. She'd get questioned and might get arrested for '_fraternizing with the enemy'; _at least, that's what I read."

Sakura looked into his visible blue eye, "What if I make the wrong decision"

"It's up to you."

Sakura sighed and stood up, "I'm gonna try to get some sleep, thanks for the tea. Goodnight Deidara."

"No problem, yeah. G'night Sakura."

Sakura trudged to her room, thoroughly exhausted. Maybe now she'd finally be able to get some sleep. Her mind was still troubled, but she was resolute. She wouldn't back down; she would just cope with this as best she could. Sakura offered a silent prayer of forgiveness, apologizing for the future lives that she would be responsible for ending. She was in for a fitful sleep; it seemed that was the only kind of sleep she had been getting recently and she was sure that was the only kind of sleep she would be getting for many nights to come.

-

Itachi woke up the next morning feeling no more rested than he had the night before. If anything, he was even more tired due to the dreams he had. He kept reliving the night of the massacre over and over again. It couldn't really be classified as a nightmare because that would imply that he was afraid of it, but he wasn't; he had long accepted his decisions and didn't regret them in the least. Much to his dismay, one of the first things he thought about was how Sakura must be doing. Determined to clear his mind of her once more, he walked to the bathroom hoping a cold shower would help. He then went to the kitchen to join his teammates for breakfast to find Sakura and Kisame sitting at the table engaged in light conversation. _Great, _just what he needed to get her off his mind: have breakfast with her.

"Mornin' Itachi," Kisame greeted. Itachi just nodded in response.

"Sleep well?" Sakura asked as he sat down across from her.

"Hn." She took that as a yes, little did she know…

"Hey, little blossom is still," he paused to think of an appropriate word, "…unsettled, so I was thinking you could take her to the meadow to meditate or something," the shark nin suggested.

"You're not coming?" '_Little blossom'_ really didn't want to spend _quality time_ with Itachi, afraid of what thoughts might creep into her mind.

"No, Leader-sama is sending me, Deidara, and Sasori on a mission for a few days."

Itachi raised an eyebrow while chewing thoughtfully on his pancake. It was rare that Leader would break up partners to put them into a group of three. Kisame just shrugged.

"Very well, we will go after breakfast."

"Great! You'll like it a lot, little blossom. It seems like it would be your kind of thing. Hell, _I _even like it there and I'm not even into that whole quiet-warm-pretty stuff."

"It sounds nice. Um, Itachi, you don't have to come with me, I'm sure you have more important things to do."

"It is quite alright. I've been meaning to go there for some time now." Maybe some meditating would help, even if the cause of his current problems would be there with him. How ironic, he would be in a completely calm atmosphere, doing one of the most calming things possible, but his mind would be anything _but_ calm.

"Ah, alright then. Thanks," Sakura couldn't understand why she got so shy when in the sharingan user's presence. She was usually naturally outgoing and kind, and maybe a _tad_ bit low tempered, sometimes making her a _bit_ loud, but her spirit and spunk just died when she was around him, along with her voice. She just hoped she didn't seem weak in his eyes. Wait a second, since when did she care what he thought about her? _'Damn,' _she cursed inwardly. She really needed this meditation thing.

"Well," Kisame's voice boomed, "It's settled then. Hope you get some good thinking done, blossom. I gotta go meet with Sasori before we leave. See you kids later." He poofed out of the room, leaving a shy teenager with the stoic Uchiha.

"So," Sakura stared at her pancakes, "…How are your pancakes?"

'_WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!' _came Inner Sakura thunderous voice. _'How are the _PANCAKES?!_ Damn, you're hopeless.' _Sakura just laughed awkwardly.

Itachi raised his eyebrow slightly, "Satisfactory. Yours?"

"They're good. What's so special about this meadow anyway?" Sakura was a pleased that her voice was no longer a squeak.

Itachi proceeded to describe it to her monotonously, but it sounded beautiful nonetheless. Now she couldn't wait to go there…with him.

_-_

**A/N:** Uhh… I really can't think of what the Akatsuki's new objectives might be… any ideas anyone?

I'm not particularly happy with this chapter… but whatever, I guess.

I'm really sorry if the story seems to be starting off kinda slow… but I'll try to put more ItaSaku stuff in there as I go along. Please be patient and keep checking back!

Hope you enjoyed. Reviews are highly appreciated. :D


	4. Chapter 4

**Last Priority**

**Chapter 4**

_Enjoy (:_

_-_

_Previously on Last Priority…_

"_So," Sakura stared at her pancakes, "…How are your pancakes?"_

'_WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!' __came Inner Sakura thunderous voice. __'How are the __PANCAKES?'!?!__ Damn, you're hopeless.' __Sakura just laughed awkwardly._

_Itachi raised his eyebrow slightly, "Satisfactory. Yours?"_

"_They're good. What's so special about this meadow anyway?" Sakura was a pleased that her voice was no longer a squeak._

_Itachi proceeded to describe it to her monotonously, but it sounded beautiful nonetheless. Now she couldn't wait to go there…with him._

_-_

After eating breakfast, Sakura and Itachi made their way to the meadow. What Itachi and Kisame failed to mention was that it was an hour's walk away from the base and they felt no need to waste their chakra to travel at high speeds. Sakura found that Itachi could be somewhat sociable, when he felt like it. It was nice to have a conversation with someone as intelligent as he was. Talking with him was a refreshing change from her sarcastic jokes with her friends back in Konoha and from the heavy, troubling conversations she'd been having recently. Sakura was delighted to have his company… but only a bit. When they finally arrived, she just stood there, speechless. It was every bit as beautiful as Itachi had described to her earlier.

"It's…beautiful," she whispered.

"Indeed." Itachi had long since gotten used to the magnificent sight.

It was a medium sized clearing surrounded by trees. There was a large pond in the center glittering in the sunlight, with a breathtaking waterfall feeding it clear water. The mist from said waterfall created a small rainbow above the pond. Surrounding it were various different kinds of colorful flowers, some being pollinated by small hummingbirds. The only sounds to be heard were the rushing sound of water and the melodic chirping of the birds, singing their individual songs. Kisame was right, she absolutely loved it. Just looking around calmed her nerves. That, and the fact that she had just been having a surprisingly pleasant conversation with Itachi prior to arriving.

_'Beautiful indeed,'_ Itachi thought to himself, but he wasn't talking about the meadow anymore. A small breeze blew throughout the clearing, swaying the flowers with it and blowing Sakura's hair around her. She was the epitome of beauty; she belonged in this peaceful meadow, not on the battlefield taking the lives of other ninja. He cleared his throat, pulling her from her thoughts, motioning for her join him on one of the large rocks beside the pond. Sakura sat down beside him and they both closed their eyes and lost themselves in their own thoughts.

She didn't know how long they had been sitting like that, but after some time, Sakura felt a drop of water land on her nose and looked up. The sky told her it was going to rain soon, and rather hard by the looks of it. She heard a croak and her head snapped to the frog currently sitting in front of her, staring at her with wide eyes. Sakura's eyes widened before she tumbled unceremoniously into the water behind her. Years of training with Naruto and his frogs instilled a deep rooted fear of the little amphibians. Her head popped out of the water, gasping for air. Itachi merely looked at her, raising an elegant eyebrow before smirking at her clumsiness. Pouting, Sakura splashed him with the water surrounding her playfully, thoroughly soaking him.

"Very mature, Sakura," Itachi deadpanned as he wiped the water from his eyes.

"Why didn't you dodge it?" Sakura looked up at him.

"There was no need to. It did not harm me; that would have unnecessarily wasted my chakra."

'_This is how I'm going to be living for the rest of my life, conserving chakra for everything. They have to be thoroughly careful not to waste energy, always watching what they do,' _she thought to herself.

Taking advantage of her occupied state, Itachi sent a blast of water Sakura's way, courtesy of a modified Suiton jutsu. She did _not_ see that coming at all. Sakura just stood there wide eyed as the water soaked her further, gaping at her companion's childish _revenge._

"You – !" She was speechless, causing Itachi's smirk to widen.

"Sakura," Itachi called out suddenly, raising his hand to indicate the need for silence, "Someone is nearby." Her eyes followed his, searching through the trees with chakra enhanced eyes. They disappeared, searching for the source of the disturbance without drying themselves, leaving behind the calm environment, and a confused, croaking frog.

Itachi held out his kunai holster to Sakura, "You will need these, in case we engage in combat." She took them gratefully as they continued their search.

-

Sakura and Itachi found themselves surrounded by two squads of ANBU from Iwagakure.

'_So we must be somewhere near Iwa,' _Inner Sakura concluded. She was torn between fighting the ANBU or letting Itachi fight them alone, hoping they would just kill him and she could escape. There were two things wrong with that plan: one, the chances of Itachi losing were one in a million; and two, she would still be under the Leader's threat. So she decided she'd just fight with him; she'd be fighting alongside these criminals in the future anyway. The problem was, the Akatsuki kept her chakra levels just high enough so she wouldn't be constantly fatigued. However, it was nowhere near enough to fight, especially not at her full capacity and she would need to be at her best if she wanted to survive this whole ordeal.

"Surrender yourselves quietly and we will not harm you," someone with an eagle mask offered. From the sound of it, it was a female, reminding Sakura of her past responsibilities.

'_No Sakura! Baaad Sakura! Don't think of this right now! Focus on _surviving,_' _her inner self scolded. She would just incapacitate them, she refused to kill a single one if she could help it.

In less than a second, one of the ANBU fell to the ground, blood spraying from his neck. _That _had been Itachi's response to the ANBU captain's threat, and just like that, all hell broke loose. Three ninja were on Sakura immediately while the other four lunged at Itachi. She wasted no time as she punched the ground, catching her opponents off guard, as she disappeared into the ground. She reappeared a second later, shooting out of the ground and landing a good chakra laced punch into one of the ANBUs' chin. Sakura heard a satisfying crack and jumped away. He was sent flying across the field and collided with a large rock, the impact causing it to crack, along with the enemy's back. The other two eyed her warily, circling her like she was a piece of meat. Sakura did her best to hide her fatigue; those two punches had taken more out of her than she had initially thought. Suddenly, she felt a presence behind her and rolled out of the way before a katana made contact with her back, but she was too late to dodge the kick delivered by the other ANBU. She got on her feet and sent a wave of chakra to her opponent's arms, travelling to their heart and causing it to stop for a few seconds. They were knocked out, but did not kill them. _'Two down, one to go,' _Inner Sakura punched the air. By this time, it had started raining heavily, making it very hard to see through and find her opponent.

She heard a quiet, "Doton: Doryuudan no Jutsu." Her eyes widened, _'Shit, I'm finished!' _An earth dragon emerged from the ground and shot several mud projectiles towards her.

Itachi was fairing much better than Sakura. He was in the process of finishing off the last of the one that came after him when he heard Sakura's strangled cry as she was thrown into a nearby tree. In his rare moment of carelessness, he had barely dodged the handful of senbon aimed for him. One of them tore itself through his cloak and made contact with his skin before he spun out of the way. He sent the finishing blow then went to aid Sakura. Itachi killed the last of the ANBU and took her to a cave he knew of where they would stay until the rain let up. The heavy rainfall caused the Doton jutsu to soften, so that last blow had only knocked Sakura out, instead of killing her. Itachi was starting to get tired and his vision began to get blurry when he arrived. He looked down at the soaked, bruised, and bleeding kunoichi in his arm; she was going to get sick if he didn't get her out of those wet clothes. He removed her Haruno clan shirt and medic's apron, leaving her in a red camisole and black shorts. The inside of his Akatsuki cloak was mildly damp, but still warm, so he placed it on Sakura's unconscious form then proceeded to make a warm fire to dry off their clothes. Itachi took off his shirt and placed it by the fire, before leaning against the wall, trying to concentrate on staying awake. Why was he having such a hard time focusing anyway?

Sakura woke up after about ten minutes to find that she was covered in something warm. She opened her eyes and saw that it was Itachi's cloak. She saw her clothes laying by the fire and realized that she was only in a tank top and shorts. _'He must have undressed me,' _Sakura blushed at the thought. She got up and saw Itachi sleeping against the wall…shirtless. Sakura turned a few shades redder at seeing his well toned body while Inner Sakura just gawked. He looked a bit more peaceful and younger than when he was awake because his face wasn't as tense, but … wait, he _was _tense. His eyebrows were knit together, she realized his breathing was irregular and he was much paler than she remembered. Besides, it wasn't like him to sleep when no one else was keeping guard. He wasn't sleeping… he was unconscious! Her eyes scanned his (half naked, to Inner Sakura's delight ;P) body to determine the cause. Itachi didn't have any fatal wounds, so the only other possibility was that he was poisoned. She saw a small, purplish cut at the base of his neck. The wound had been small and just barely grazed his skin, but it was enough, the poison was successfully deposited into his system and it would take a long time to remove it, given her current state.

Getting up, Sakura made her way to Itachi, taking the long, warm cloak with her, and knelt down in front of him. First, she needed to get the poison out of the cut so she could close it to prevent infection. Seeing as she was dangerously low on chakra, she would have to get it out the old fashioned way: sucking it out. Sakura was blushing madly, but she changed to medic mode and it was all about saving a dying patient, _not_ sucking on Uchiha Itachi's neck… Oh boy, this was going to be a long day… night? It was hard to tell, it was dark either way. Sakura set to work and after sucking the poison out, she settled herself between his legs to make things easier and more comfortable. Between her levels of chakra and the severe beating she received earlier, she knew this would take hours. A few grueling hours later, Itachi's breathing became regular and some of his natural color began to return. The poison was removed, but he still had a high fever. Sakura promptly passed out and collapsed against his chest, unable to keep up the pace she had set for herself earlier. At least he was no longer in danger of dying.

Itachi woke up feeling incredibly tired and _very_ cold, except for his torso. He looked down to determine the source of the comfortable warmth to see a head of pink hair leaning against his chest. He had some vague memories of Sakura sucking something out of his neck then her warm hands soothing the burning pain from his body… then, nothing. He assumed he'd been poisoned and silently chided himself for such an amateur error. She must have passed out from exhaustion. Her warmth was not unwelcome, but he knew he should lay her down somewhere else, away from him. He was feeling very vulnerable and the cold was getting to him; had he been anyone else, he would have been shivering, but such a thing was considered beneath him. If he hadn't been poisoned and feeling thoroughly exhausted, maybe he'd be able to summon some kind of self control and lay her by the fire like nothing happened, but she was so warm and inviting. He cursed his weakness as he wrapped an arm around Sakura's waist and the other around her shoulders. Then he fell asleep, resting his chin atop her head.

-

Itachi woke up again a few short hours later due to Sakura's shivering. He looked down at her; was she cold? Thunder roared, and she stiffened then whimpered, burying herself further into his cloak. She was afraid of thunder storms, it seemed. Lighting illuminated the small cave and Sakura squeaked, trying to shrink even more as she wrapped her arms tighter around herself. That confirmed it.

He wrapped the cloak around her tighter. "Sakura," he called softly.

She looked up at him, wide-eyed, "G-gomen, Itachi." She made a move to get up but froze as thunder rumbled throughout the cave again.

"It is fine," he pulled her back to him, tightening his arms around her. "You are afraid of storms," it was a statement more than a question. She just nodded into his chest. Sakura knew it was wrong to be enjoying a criminal's embrace, but right now it was just so comforting and warm. There would be time to be horrified of her actions later, but right now, she was too scared and Itachi proved to be a very comforting presence.

"If you so desire, you may speak about it. I will be listening. If not, then I will not force you to talk if you are uncomfortable speaking of such matters."

That was his way of saying he was there for her. Even though they had only met a few days ago, Sakura felt like he was someone she could depend on. "On my fifteenth birthday, my parents and I got into a fight," she began shakily. "They wanted to go out for my birthday and spend time with the family, but I was being selfish and wanted to spend the day with my friends." She paused as more evidence of the storm made its way into the cave and she stiffened. Itachi stroked her hair to try to comfort her.

"I stormed (no pun intended) out of the house, refusing to listen to them," she continued. "I felt horrible about it by the end of the day so I came home to apologize. It was raining then…hard. I walked into the house as the lightning lit up my house…and I saw them…" More lightning. "Dead." More thunder. "They were murdered. The last thing I said to them was… 'I hate you'. I was a real brat back then…" Sakura sniffled, determined to keep her tears from falling, as Itachi continued to stroke her hair. "I just wish I'd—"

"It was not your fault," Itachi interrupted sternly.

"Maybe… I mean, that's what I keep telling myself. But, if I'd listened to them and we had just gone out like they wanted, then…then, they'd still be here, yenno? Or if I stayed home at least, then I'd be able to protect them." The thunder was unrelenting and kept booming through pitter-patter of the rain, while the lightning continued to flash through the dark sky. "Or maybe if I said, 'I love you', then they'd know."

"They know Sakura, they are watching over you. Your parents are not angry at you, nor do they blame you for what happened."

Sakura just nodded, relaxing her muscles a fraction and just enjoying Itachi's soothing actions. "Um, I'm really sorry Itachi, this must be making you uncomfortable," once again, Sakura made a move to leave his arms, and once again, Itachi tightened his hold around her petit, shaking body.

"As I said, It is fine," his voice was gentle but left no room for arguments.

"But you still have a fever, you should get some rest … and – "

"Sakura. It is fine," he repeated

"O-okay, thank you Itachi … for everything," she said into his bare chest.

"Hn," came the expected response.

"Are you cold? You can have your cloak back if you want..."

He took it back from her wordlessly. Sakura was speechless; surely he was enough of a gentleman to at least say yes before taking it from her? Sure, it was his cloak to start with, but it was just polite! However, instead of sticking his arms through their respective holes and doing up the cloak, he wrapped the edges of said cloak around Sakura and enveloped her in its warmth. Itachi's body heat was radiating from him and she just blushed.

They sat like that for a long time; Sakura nestled in Itachi's arms, occasionally stiffening in response to the thunderstorm, while he held her and continued to stroke her hair to comfort her. Eventually, they fell asleep, well into the early morning hours.

-

Later that morning, Sakura woke up feeling pleasantly warm, and then she remembered just _why_ she was so warm. Realization hit her like a brick wall and made her dizzy. She slept in Itachi's arms; _the _Uchiha Itachi. Gah! What must he think of her now? She told him her freaking life story! Well not quite… but still. All she could think of was what he must have been thinking the whole time she'd been in his arms and forced him to listen to her sad little story. She felt so foolish. _'But he _offered_ to listen to you,' _Inner Sakura reminded, _'which means he cared enough to listen in the first place. Besides, you said you'd get up three times, but he refused and just pulled you back to him. ' 'Tch, yeah right. Don't be foolish, he was just being nice.' _she argued. What would he say when he woke up? No doubt some witty remark about how afraid she had been. Well, maybe not, maybe he'd be cool about it and brush it off? Sakura sighed, a girl can dream can't she? Her eyes widened as another thing dawned on her, she sucked on his neck! Oh for goodness sake, why was she being tormented this way? Then she was reminded of how warm he was and how comfortable his embrace had been. Sakura refused to acknowledge this as anything past physical attraction. He was an incredibly good looking individual, she'd have to be blind not to notice that. Then she heard it; the loud thunderous roar of the storm that stopped all coherent thought. It was still raining, worse the storm was still going on, if anything, it had gotten worse. She stiffened noticeably and covered her ears, trying to block out the intruding sounds.

"Sakura," Itachi's hands shifted on her back, "You are awake."

He was awake! Dammit… what was she supposed to do?! What was she going to say!?

-

Itachi woke up, once again, feeling completely worn out, but this time he wasn't cold. He looked down at Sakura and remembered what had conspired between them the night before. Where was his famous Uchiha control when he needed it? Even now, he couldn't find it in himself to wake her or remove himself from her. He studied the peaceful kunoichi sleeping in his arms for a long time. She was breathing evenly, the silent rise and fall of her chest enchanting him. She was oblivious to the storm that ensued beyond the depths of the cave. The storm! He remembered _why _he had insisted she stayed in his arms. He felt the urge to want to comfort her so she would no longer be afraid; he wanted to be the one to provide her with that comfort. What was this girl doing to him? Why was he so attracted to her? She was truly a work of art; the epitome of femininity: beauty and grace. Yet she had a fierce determination and was definitely a force to be reckoned with. Perhaps it was the way she didn't cower before him, or the way she looked at him with such ferocious eyes, maybe her intelligence was what intrigued him. Maybe it was all of the above and more. All he knew was that he was definitely attracted and liked her more than he knew he should, he would not deny it, but he would definitely try his best to stop it and rid himself of this … _feeling. _Itachi was pulled from his thoughts as a particularly loud crash of thunder made itself known_. _Sakura trembled in his arms and he couldn't help but want to comfort her. He could wait until tomorrow to try and bury his feelings for her; for now, she needed someone to help her get through this storm.

"Sakura," His hands shifted on her back, "You are awake."

"H-hai," she replied feebly, still shaking. "Gomen, Itachi." She felt horrible that she was putting him in this position. He was uncomfortable with the contact, no doubt, and she didn't want things to get awkward. "I'll go sit by the fire. I'm sure you must be sore and uncomfortable."

"The storm has not ended yet."

"I know, but I got through the storms by myself before. If I just close my eyes and bury my head in my knees, it helps."

"Sakura –"

"Besides, you really should be lying down since you still have a fever. Which reminds me…"

"Sakura –"

"I really need to find some herbs to make your medicine. You're still looking really pale so –"

"Sakura," Itachi's voice was louder this time and held authority.

"H-hai…?"

"I believe I said I am not fond of repeating myself."

"… hai …"

"As I have told you before, it is fine."

"Really Itachi, you –" another loud crash of thunder sent the entire cave vibrating; a few loose rocks were jarred from their place by the heavy vibration and fell to the ground. She jumped at the sound and Itachi silently pulled her closer to him. Once again, she was proved wrong about what she thought of him.

"I-I'm really sorry…" she squeaked. Sakura was finding it harder and harder to argue with him and try to get away. He was too kind and his embrace was just so damn warm. '…_warm_…_His fever!_' She reminded herself. After the few hours of rest from the previous night, she had a bit of her chakra back and she began to pump it into his system, trying to ease his discomfort as much as she could.

"There is nothing to apologize for," Itachi reassured her. He felt her chakra enter his system and immediately relief washed over him. He no longer felt the bone-chilling cold he had endured earlier and his muscles didn't feel as sore. His mind didn't feel quite so clouded and the dizziness faded away, making it easier to focus. He knew he still had a fever, but Sakura was seeing to it that that problem would be solved.

"The lightning's the worst, yenno? I hate it more than the thunder," she tried make light conversation to drown out the storm.

"Why is that?"

"Because it lets you know that the thunder is coming. You never know _when, _but … you just know it will. I hate waiting for it to strike."

"Ah."

Sakura continued her work and they sat in relatively comfortable silence as they waited the storm out.

-

**A/N:** awhh Ita-kun is such a sweetie (:

uhhh I just thought of something....Sakura's team and the village, at this point, would be looking for her and stuff… but I don't think I'm going to write about that side of the story. Maybe it'll be the sequel or something? Is that okay?

If anyone has problems with that, just let me know and I guess I could try writing about them.

Hope you enjoyed. Reviews are highly appreciated. :D


	5. Chapter 5

**Last Priority**

**Chapter 5**

_Enjoy (:_

_-_

_Itachi felt Sakura's chakra enter his system and immediately relief washed over him. He no longer felt the bone-chilling cold he had endured earlier and his muscles didn't feel as sore. His mind didn't feel quite so clouded and the dizziness faded away, making it easier to focus. He knew he still had a fever, but Sakura was seeing to it that that problem would be solved._

"_The lightning's the worst, yenno? I hate it more than the thunder," she tried make light conversation to drown out the storm._

"_Why is that?"_

"_Because it lets you know that the thunder is coming. You never know __when, __but … you just know it will. I hate waiting for it to strike."_

"_Ah."_

_Sakura continued her work and they sat in relatively comfortable silence as they waited the storm out._

- About 2 hours later-

"The storm is lifting." Itachi declared. The small kunoichi stirred in his arms.

"Hm?" Sakura looked outside. True enough, the storm had eased to a light drizzle. A small part of her was slightly disappointed, but she proceeded to extract herself from Itachi's arms. "Our clothes are still kind of damp," she pointed out as she put on her Haruno clan shirt.

"Hn," Itachi got up slowly and put on his shirt as well. Sakura put on her medic's apron and was getting ready to leave the cave, seeing as the rain had stopped completely, when she felt a sudden gust of warm wind envelop her. It was gone as quickly as it had arrived and she noticed that her clothes were dry. She looked up at Itachi with a questioning gaze.

"We would fall ill if we were to travel in wet clothes."

"Right, thanks," Sakura walked outside and took a deep breath. "Mmm, I love coming outside after it rains. It smells like spring." Itachi thought about this for a while. It was ironic that she hated the storm, but she loved the aftereffects.

"I don't believe this scent is reserved only for spring, Sakura," he remarked, challenging her logic.

"…Yeah, well… You know what I mean!" She was glad that he was back to his old, mocking, teasing, and condescending self. It may have been infuriating beyond belief, but it meant that last night hadn't changed anything between them, at least, not on the surface.

"On the contrary, I do not."

"It _reminds _me of spring," she elaborated. They engaged in light conversation the rest of the way back, staying on safe topics, neither willing to bring up the previous night's events, which was completely okay with both of them.

When they arrived, Sakura pointed out that they hadn't eaten anything since yesterday morning so they made their way to kitchen for some lunch. During their short time together, they developed a mutual companionship, since, in Itachi's case, he didn't make _friends; _friends make a person weak. For Sakura, she was just afraid to make friends with the enemy, as in, _real _friends, because she would start to care for them and she couldn't quite deal with that idea yet. Either way, they were fine with settling for companionship and enjoyed each other's company. After eating, they went to their respective chambers to wash off the evidence of their battle.

Once Sakura was in the safety and privacy of her own room, the gears in her mind began to turn. She should have just left the poison in Itachi and left him to die in the cave instead of wasting her energy and chakra to heal him. That would just be one less criminal for Konoha to have to deal with and one less person to kill innocents. Why did she insist on healing him? She tried to convince herself that she was just returning the favor. Itachi had many chances to kill her but didn't and he saved her from that one ANBU that would have certainly killed her, had he not intercepted when he did. _'Yeah,_ _that's what it was,' _she reassured herself.

-

Sakura spent the rest of day in the courtyard Kisame had told her about when they were still in the forest. There were many plants that could be used for medicine and she took her time observing them. It was a peaceful place; one she would not have expected to exist in the base of a criminal organization, but she was grateful for it nonetheless. She found herself thinking about her life in Konoha and played back all of the memories she could recall. It wasn't healthy, she knew, to be thinking about it like that and hoping so strongly that things could be different, but she couldn't help it. It had only been just over three days since she was captured and her mission before that lasted two days, so all together, she had been away from Konoha for just over five days. These five days felt like an eternity to her; it felt like a year since the last time she had ramen at Ichiraku with Naruto, since she had argued with Ino, since she performed an operation at the hospital, since she trained with Kakashi. So many things she wished she could do again but knew she never would. Once again, Sakura apologized to Konoha and all of her friends for what she was doing and what she would do in the future. Another intense wave of guilt hit her but she refused to let the tears fall. It was no use crying over something she couldn't change.

She imagined what Sasuke must have felt when he left. Did he feel reminiscent too? Did he miss Konoha at all? No, he left on his own free will; he decided to leave them behind and to break the bonds everyone tried so hard to forge. He threw away all the hard work they put into making friends with him, the teamwork Team 7 had been famous for, and the unwavering trust they put in him. He threw it all away. And for what? For power. She cursed her ex-teammate for his selfishness. Surely he could have trained and gotten stronger in Konoha, with them; with Naruto, with her, with Kakashi, with everyone in the village. Why did he have to leave?

'_No,' _Inner Sakura scolded, _'Don't do this again.' _She had already gone through this phase with Naruto immediately after Sasuke left and it took them several months to get past it. Naruto, on some level, never _truly _got over it. He still believed Sasuke must have some other reason for leaving, other than his selfish hunger for power, and as his best friend, Naruto found it necessary to bring him back and find out what it was, though the need wasn't as prominent as it had once been.

That's how Sakura spent the rest of her afternoon.

-

Itachi's afternoon wasn't quite as quiet as Sakura's, but it was just as troubled. He wandered off deep into the forest behind the base to train. He started with taijutsu, making clones of himself to train against. He didn't bother coating his fists of legs with chakra to cushion the hits that landed, causing them to bleed and bruise. He didn't pay it any mind as he continued with his arduous workout. After a few hours, he changed gears and began working with his weapons and his accuracy. He manipulated a Doton jutsu and a Suiton jutsu to grow a tree, similar to Yamato's technique, and sent many leaves flitting through the air. The sharingan user cut each of the hundred leaves in four pieces before a single one reached the ground. He continued his training until nightfall and returned completely exhausted, though he didn't dare show it. Upon arriving, he headed straight to his room for a shower. As he scrubbed the dirt and grime off his body, his mind drifted to the forbidden thoughts he had thankfully been distracted from during training. He contemplated his actions toward Sakura and realized that maybe she didn't _want _to be in his arms that night. She had tried to extract herself from him several times and he refused to let her go. What if she was scared of him now? No, that wasn't right. She had been trembling and buried herself in his embrace, curling into his chest whenever the thunder struck. She even thanked him for his kindness and understanding. She may have been reluctant, but when she finally accepted his benevolence, she relaxed and let her guard down, if only a bit. Itachi tried to shake off the feeling of satisfaction at the fact that she trusted him enough to tell him about her past, since it wasn't something she would tell just anyone. He got out of the shower to dry himself off and made his way to the kitchen to get some much needed sustenance.

On his way there, Itachi passed the door leading to the courtyard to see Sakura sitting on a bench staring out into nothing. _'Thinking about Pein's offer, no doubt,'_ he concluded. He continued on his way to the kitchen, preparing an extra plate for Sakura. After he was satisfied with the food, he took both plates and padded softly towards the courtyard to bring her dinner.

She didn't seem to notice him there. "Sakura," he called, effectively pulling her from her thoughts.

"Oh, Itachi. I didn't see you there." She noticed the food he was holding and realized how hungry she was; it was past well nightfall and she hadn't eaten in a while. Itachi handed her a plate and she thanked him as he sat down beside her. They placed their food on the table in front of them and ate as they watched the stars. They talked about light topics, philosophies, theories, anything to get Sakura's mind off her feelings and her meeting with Pein tomorrow. Itachi noticed the tension in her shoulders and sensed what was bothering her…at least, part of it, so he made sure to stay away from heavy topics.

The base was fairly quiet as Kisame, Deidara, and Sasori were still on their mission and would likely be gone for the next few days. The other members were all on their own missions and their base in Earth country was one of many. The rest of the Akatsuki were mostly likely in one of the many bases that littered throughout each country.

-

The next morning, Sakura awoke feeling well rested for the first time in what felt like an eternity. Ever since she left Konoha, she had been getting nothing but restless sleep and last night was a welcomed change. However, Sakura's pleasant mood was destroyed when she remembered what she had to do today. It was the day she would become a member of the Akatsuki and she would become an official traitor of her beloved Konoha. She sighed and buried her face in a pillow. What would her parents think of her if they saw her now? Would they be proud that was strong enough to even be offered such a thing? Would they be proud that she was protecting her village and important people? Or would they be disappointed that she couldn't prevent herself from getting herself into this mess? That she wasn't smart enough to find a way out or that she wasn't strong enough to break out? Sakura finally managed to muster up the strength to get out of bed and into the washroom for a hot shower. She realized that she didn't have a change of clothes and still had to use the clothes Itachi gave her. Yesterday, he dropped off two more sets of clothes. She really needed to buy some more clothes soon.

After Sakura finished drying off, she stepped into her room and sat on the bed, drying her hair with the soft black towel that was provided for her.

Not five minutes after she sat down, she heard a soft knock on the door and knew it was Itachi, "Sakura, Leader-sama has called for you."

She got up and prepared herself before walking to the opening the door and walking out, "Hai."

They walked to Pein's office in silence and Sakura slid in wordlessly.

"Sakura," Pein's deep voice vibrated throughout the room, "It's nice to see you again."

"Likewise," came her surprisingly calm reply as she took the unoccupied seat in front of him.

"I trust you've thought about my proposal?"

"I have."

"And?"

"I accept, but on one condition."

He raised an eyebrow, amused at her boldness, "And what would that be?"

"You will not harm anyone from Konoha, not just Naruto, but the entire village."

He thought about this for a minute. "Alright, but should they get in our way and put their selves in our way, then we will not hesitate to remove the problem." Sakura nodded hesitantly.

Pein let a devious smile spread across his features. "Excellent. While I am impressed with your current skills, you are not quite at S-class level yet. I have arranged for you to train with various members to improve your abilities. The first person you will be training with is Itachi, since none of the other members are here. You will be working on your genjutsu as well as accuracy and efficiency with weapons. You start today, after breakfast."

"Hai," she nodded

"Good. You are dismissed."

Sakura got up and walked to the door. As she was about to turn the knob, she heard Pein speak, "You made the right choice, Sakura."

"I know," she replied quietly before walking through the door and closing it gently behind her.

Just like before, Itachi was standing by the door waiting for her. He nodded in greeting and they made their way to the kitchen for breakfast before their first training session.

-

"Concentrate, Sakura," Itachi instructed. "You're too soft."

"Well, since you're not the enemy, I don't see why I have to make it particularly gruesome."

"That's not the point."

"Can we take a break?" Sakura was beginning to get frustrated. She was always told she had a thing for genjutsu, but compared to Itachi's natural talent, she just wasn't good enough.

"…Very well." They sat down in under the large oak tree, leaning against the trunk as Sakura collected herself.

"I will show you a useful genjutsu to use when you are low on chakra, as it doesn't require much, but you must remember that it is just an illusion. Nothing you see is real and there is no possibility of it happening, got it?" Itachi explained, preparing himself for the technique.

Sakura gulped, afraid of what he would show her, then nodded slowly. Suddenly, she felt dizzy, as though the entire world was spinning around her, then she found herself in a bloody battlefield. There were several bodies severely damaged and dilapidated. One body in front of her had a head of spiky blonde hair that reminded her of Naruto staring lifelessly up at the sky. Another beside her sported a head of unruly silver hair and had his limbs cut off and lay motionless on the ground, looking like some kind of creepy doll. There were several others around her that looked disturbingly similar to her friends in Konoha and she felt the tears gather in her eyes.

'_Relax, Sakura,' _she coaxed herself, _'It's not real, this is just an illusion and none of these things are real.' _Then it was over, and she was back in the training grounds with Itachi.

"I'm sorry I had to show you that, but I'll remind you again, it was an illusion."

She took several calming breaths and nodded.

"I had the advantage of knowing the appearances of those close to you so I was able to manipulate the bodies' characteristics to fit them. You, however, will not always have that advantage," Itachi began explaining, "so the best thing to do is to have several bodies with various hair and eye colors and characteristics. Your target will put names on those faces on their own and their fear will cause them to break down. Most ninja will because everyone has someone important to them, you just have to make a body look like that one person and the battle is as good as done."

"But what if my target is someone like you?"

Itachi raised an eyebrow, "Someone like me? What kind of person would that be?"

"Someone… with no outward emotion."

"Outward emotion? What makes you think I have inward emotions?"

Sakura just shrugged, "Everyone does, you just happen to be really good at hiding it."

"In regard to your previous question, I said that most ninja would break down. In the event that he does not, then I will teach you some techniques that damage a person physically, instead of psychologically or emotionally or at least paralyze them so you have the opportunity to do so."

They spent the whole day training; Itachi taught her some useful jutsu and how to make them feel more realistic. By the end of their session, Sakura was exhausted and could hardly walk straight. She couldn't imagine doing this everyday but she'd have to push herself to meet their expectations. The next day, they worked with weapons and by the end of that day she was just as tired as the day before, if not more. Itachi and Sakura continued at this pace for the next two weeks and she had gotten much better; better than Pein had expected her to, not that he was disappointed. Quite the opposite actually, he was thrilled she was making such quick progress and called her to his office at the end of two weeks.

"Sakura, I hadn't expected you to grow as much as you did in such a small amount of time and I am very happy I decided to recruit you." Pein had a sinister smirk plastered across his face, "I am sending Itachi and Kisame on a mission tomorrow, so as of now, you're new training partner will Tobi. I don't believe you've had the pleasure of meeting yet. He'll be working on your agility and stealth."

Sakura sighed quietly; she was never going to get a break. She nodded silently and left the room. As she walked into the kitchen, she was surprised to see a man in an orange mast sitting at the table.

"You must me our new member Sakura-san! I'm Tobi!" He bounced up to her and shook her hand enthusiastically.

"Nice to meet you Tobi," she smiled.

"Tobi is a good boy!"

Could this really be a member of the Akatsuki? He was like an overgrown kid! This made Sakura suspicious and decided she would watch herself around him. There was obviously something about him that caught Pein's attention.

"Tobi will be helping you with you speed and help you hide better!"

"Yes, Tobi, Leader told me you'd be helping me out. Shall we get started?"

The masked missing nin nodded earnestly and began to pull her out to the training yard by her wrist. They trained for a week before Pein called her back to his office again.

"Tobi tells me you've been making good progress, but I must interrupt your training for a mission. It is an undercover assassination mission that you, Itachi, and Kisame will be taking on. Your target is Mitsuhasha Kenji, a dealer of a major underground weapon company of illegal products. We do not wish to get on their bad side, so you must make sure your true identities are not revealed. The alias' you will be taking on are two frequent buyers, Takahashi Etsuko, and her bodyguard Abe Kaito."

"Why are there only two?"

"One of you will be in the shadows, following along to see to it that no outside interference hinders the success of your mission."

"Ah, hai."

"You will have to search for them along the main roads towards Miyagi and get rid of them so no one gets suspicious about seeing two pairs of Takahashi Etsuko and Abe Kaito."

Sakura nodded took in her mission details.

She would have never believed that the Akatsuki did any undercover missions. One would have thought they would just demand whatever it was they wanted… or even just go there and take it, but apparently they preferred to avoid the trouble.

-

**A/N: **hmm.. this mission seems kind of important/significant, don't you think? hahaha well you're just gonna have to keep reading to find out _why _it's so important :D

This chapter's a bit shorter than the others, so I'll try to make the next one _extra _long to make up for this one ?

Thank you for reading!

Hope you enjoyed. Reviews are highly appreciated :D


	6. Chapter 6

**Last Priority**

**Chapter 6**

_Enjoy (:_

_-_

_Previously on Last Priority…_

"_Tobi tells me you've been making good progress, but I must interrupt your training for a mission. It is an undercover assassination mission that you, Itachi, and Kisame will be taking on. Your target is Mitsuhasha Kenji, a dealer of a major underground weapon company of illegal products. We do not wish to get on their bad side, so you must make sure your true identities are not revealed. The alias' you will be taking on are two frequent buyers, Takahashi Etsuko, and her bodyguard Abe Kaito."_

"_Why are there only two?"_

"_One of you will be in the shadows, following along to see to it that no outside interference hinders the success of your mission."_

"_Ah, hai."_

"_You will have to search for them along the main roads towards Miyagi and get rid of them so no one gets suspicious about seeing two pairs of Takahashi Etsuko and Abe Kaito."_

_Sakura nodded took in her mission details._

-

"We will split up to search for the targets along the main roads and meet back at the hotel at sundown," Itachi explained quietly. Kisame and Sakura just nodded in a second, she was alone. After an hour of searching fruitlessly, she felt three familiar chakra signatures coming towards her. It was Naruto, Kakashi, and Sai. No! She was _not _ready for this, not yet. She knew she'd have to face them sooner or later, but she preferred later. She didn't even know what she'd say to them. Her chakra was already hidden so they hadn't felt her presence yet, hopefully; all she had to do was hide until they passed. She jumped into a tree and used an illusion to blend in with the trees.

The trio flashed by Sakura's hiding place when Kakashi stopped abruptly, causing Naruto to look back in confusion, "What's the matter Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto never really grew out of calling Kakashi his sensei, even though they were now equals and no longer shared a student-sensei relationship. The older ninja said nothing as he sniffed the air, feeling something out of place.

'_Shit! He knows I'm here,' _Sakura cursed. Even after her training with Tobi, she couldn't hide from her former team. She decided it would be better to come out and show herself instead of being discovered. That would put her in a very compromising situation and would lead them to suspicious conclusions. With that in mind, Sakura stepped out of her hiding spot and faced her ex-teammates.

Naruto's eyes widened with surprise, "SAKURA-CHAN! I knew the rumors about you going rogue and joining the Akatsuki weren't true! I never doubted you for a second!" He came running to her and hugged her tightly. Of course he would come to that conclusion. She was alone, travelling without her partners and they were still making her a cloak at the moment, so she was in her usual red shirt, shorts, and medical apron.

"Hag, I thought I'd never see you again," Sai said wearing one of his fake smiles. She smiled wryly at her nickname that once infuriated her to the ends of the earth, but now she found herself missing his dry humor.

"Sakura, it's nice to see you again. Where have you been?" Kakashi knew better than to jump to conclusions. "Last time we heard you were taken captive."

Sakura pried herself from Naruto's vice-like grip and stepped away, "Naruto, Sai, Kakashi, it's nice to see you again."

"…Sakura-chan? You're acting strange," came Naruto's worried voice.

"I'm sorry," she couldn't bring herself to look him in the eye, or any of them for that matter, so she stared at the ground in front of her.

"You're scaring me Sakura-chan. What are you sorry for?" the Kyuubi container's voice began to waver.

Silence.

"Sakura?" Kakashi knew where this was going.

"It's true," she managed to whisper out.

Once again, Naruto's eyes widened, but for a completely different reason. "No… NO! Sakura-chan that's not true! How—what—WHY!?" his chakra flared dangerously as his eyes began to bleed to the color of the Kyuubi's.

"Naruto, calm down," her ex-sensei called out warningly. He took a step forward and Sakura stepped back tentatively. The wind picked up and was now blowing her hair in her face covering her tears from their view. It was cold and she wrapped her arms around herself in an attempt to stop her shivering.

Sensing the spike of chakra, her partners materialized at her sides. They stayed slightly behind her to show that they had no intentions of fighting. Kisame dropped his cloak on her shoulders, seeing her shivering, even though he knew the cold wasn't what caused it. Sakura made no move to acknowledge their arrival as she continued to look to the ground.

"We thought you might need a hand, blossom." Kisame's deep voice carried across the small path.

'_Blossom!?' _It was Kakashi's eyes that widened this time, _'Not only did she join their ranks, but she's comfortable enough around them that they've given her nicknames?' _It was far worse than he initially thought.

"You left us for _them?!_" Naruto asked disbelievingly, pointing an accusatory finger at her partners. "When Saskue left it crushed us and we vowed never to put each other through anything like that again! YOU WERE THE ONE WHO SAID IT! Did you just get sick of your life with us, of your life back in Konoha, of me?! They tried to kill me Sakura-chan, or did you forget that?!" his fist shook at his sides "What are you getting from them that we can't give you? Sakura-chan…" The look of utter betrayal and hurt in Naruto's eyes made her want to crawl into a dark hole, never to come out again. She knew he had feelings for her, his crush from their genin days never did fade away, if anything, it evolved into a more mature sense of … love?

"I'm sorry Naruto… "

"Don't you think it's rather hypocritical of you, hag? You were so mad at Sasuke for leaving, but then you leave too, and to join forces with a group that's tried your best friend on many occasions," Sai, who had been rather quiet through the whole ordeal, spoke up with a genuine look of hurt on his usually impassive face.

"I know Sai," her voice faded to a whisper, "…I know..."

"Please be safe Naruto, Kakashi, Sai; stay away from the Akatsuki... and from me."

"Sakura-chan no…"

"Take care of everyone for me and tell them I love them all."

"Why don't you tell them yourself?" Kakashi stepped closer.

She shook her head, "I love you all, goodbye."

"OH NO YOU DONT, YOU'RE NOT LEAVING HERE SAKURA-CHAN! I'm going to bring you back; willing or not!" Naruto ran forward and was fully prepared to hurt her if that's what it took. He threw a series of weapons at her and the Akatsuki members dispersed in a blur. Sakura dodged it with ease. Kisame's enormous cloak didn't hinder her nimble movements in the least although the shark nin was over a foot taller than her and his cloak pooled at her feet. At least her lessons with Tobi were paying off.

'_She's fast!' _Sai observed.

"I believe she said goodbye," Itachi intercepted calmly.

"You're mistaken if you think we're letting her go without a fight," came Kakashi's equally calm reply.

"No, please, no!" Sakura begged. The terms of her agreement allowed members of the Akatsuki to harm Konoha ninja's if they were the ones to engage the fight. She looked up at her partners with pleading eyes. Kisame placed his large hand on her shoulder, the look in his eyes reassuring her they wouldn't kill anyone. Sakura thanked him and looked up at Itachi, who just nodded, sending her a similar message.

"I couldn't bring back Sasuke, but I'll take you back Sakura-chan, believe it!"

"Naruto, please don't do this." He ignored her and charged straight at her with three of his bunshins. Kakashi and Sai followed his lead and engaged her partners in battle. Kakashi and Itachi were to the right of her, while Sai and Kisame eyed each other on her left side.

Sakura was keeping up with Naruto easily, dodging most of his attack. She's even been able to land a few god hits on him and still had a respectable amount of chakra left. She was doing alright, she thought…until he was surrounded in the Kyuubi's red chakra and began to sprout a tail as his whiskers became more prominent.

"Naruto, no. Please stop this madness, you're only hurting yourself."

"Madness? What's madness is you joining the Akatsuki and your partner is Sasuke's older brother; the man who massacred his entire clan!"

"I know that, Naruto!" It was the first time she'd raised her voice to him through anger, "I know what I'm doing!"

"Obviously you don't! Are you going to come after me and try to kill me too!?!" A second tail made itself known as Naruto's fangs got sharper.

Sakura's eyes snapped up and her voice faded to a whisper, "You really believe I'd do that?"

"Yes." The only sounds to be heard were the ones coming from the battles on either side of them. "I didn't believe you'd betray the village and join the Akatsuki, but you did that. Anything's possible ne, Sakura-chan?" He laughed at the irony.

A few years ago, she had said those same words two words to him.

"_Anything's possible Naruto! So keep working hard and you'll become the next Hokage and I'll be the first to congratulate you!"_

"Will you still be the first to congratulate me Sakura-chan?"

"I'm sorry it had to happen like this Naruto, but I still believe you'll become the next Hokage, so congratulations when you do."

His entire body tensed, then his shoulders slumped and his head dropped to stare at the ground as his tears began to fall, "Sakura-chan, why?"

"I had to."

"Please… come back with us. We can tell baa-chan that you're back, then we can go back to normal…"

"Naruto I'm sorry."

"When I become Hokage, I'll appoint you to top medic in the Hospital and it'll be yours to run, because you're the best at it Sakura-chan."

"I can't… Ino must be shaping up to be a great medic nin. Maybe you should ask her."

He fell to his knees and punched the ground, breaking it slightly. Sakura doubted he had enhanced that punch with chakra. "You keep saying you're sorry, but you're not doing anything to show you are. You can't even tell me _why _you left? Sakura-chan … I can change, or if you're unhappy about your life in Konoha, we can talk to baa-chan … please, don't leave."

"I really am sorry, Naruto. I'm sorry that I hurt you… but I can't do anything. I can't go back, please understand."

"That's just it! I don't understand!"

"Then try! I've made my decision, I'm not going back."

"Sasuke hasn't killed a single person since he left. How many people have _you_ killed?"

"I haven't killed anyone! Naruto, we're all ninja and what I do now will be no different than what I've been doing in Konoha," she defended.

"Konoha isn't made up of a whole bunch of criminals!"

"Well then, how many people have _you _killed since becoming a ninja, hm?"

Naruto stared ahead, "It—it's not the same!"

"Isn't it? We're still killing, no matter what side we're on. We kill people who have families and lives, just like us because someone at the top thinks it would be beneficial to do so. The only difference is the outfit I wear, the headband I may or may not be wearing. We're all human Naruto, we kill for different reasons, but when it comes down to it, killing is killing. The ninja you assassinated on your last mission may have had a family who's waiting for him. The one I last killed had others depending on him, but now they have to find someone else. No matter what you may think, I still hold the same values."

"So betraying the village and becoming a criminal was always your top priority? You're worse than Sasuke! At least he left to avenge his clan and protect the Uchiha name! What about you, who are you protecting?"

'_You.' _She didn't let this come from her mouth, instead she just shook her head and looked straight ahead. He grew another tail then and he began to grow claws.

"Naruto! Stop this!"

"Enough talk, Sakura-chan!" growled a voice that wasn't Naruto's. She had to stop him, to reverse his transformation.

She charged forward and latched her hands to his arms, ignoring the raw burn of the Kyuubi's chakra. He sprouted another tail as his skin peeled off and his eyes became the Kyuubi's white, unseeing eyes. Sakura forced her chakra through his system and fought against the demon fox's chakra. Two of the tails began to slowly shrink back and she focused on healing his skin and other injuries caused by the transformation. He tried to pry her off, but failed so he punched her in the abdomen, sending her flying through several trees, burning through her clothes and searing the skin on her stomach. Sakura coughed severely and hacked up some blood, but stood up shakily and walked towards him.

This caught Kakashi's and Sai's attention and they turned to see Sakura flying across the battlefield.

"Naruto! Control yourself!" Kakashi called as he dodged another black fireball from Itachi

"Sakura!" Sai called.

"You should worry about yourself kid," Kisame's voice bellowed before Sai was sent crashing to the ground, breaking the earth beneath him.

"Fight it Naruto," once again, Sakura grabbed his arms and pumped her chakra into him. She succeeded in getting rid of the two remaining tails and Naruto began to return to normal.

"Sakura-chan…" his voice was hoarse and broken from the physical and emotional strain.

Itachi appeared behind him then and knocked him out cold while Kisame swept the now unconscious Sakura into his arms. The rest of the team was in no condition to fight so they watched helplessly as the pair took off with their ex-teammate.

'_This was only supposed to be an information gathering mission, not a confrontation and full blown battle with the Akatsuki' _thought Kakashi. Konoha had gotten a tip that the Akatsuki had been spotted in Earth country and they were sent to investigate. Thankfully no one was killed or fatally injured. How was he supposed to report this to Tsunade? She was just as devastated at Sakura's kidnapping as they were, but as Hokage, she had to put the village's safety first and was unable o send out any ninja to look for her until Konoha was stable. Mulling over this disturbing new piece of information, he summoned one of his dogs to go back to the village and send for reinforcements. In the meantime, he'd get his team to an inn they passed in the town of Miyagi.

-

Sakura woke up groggily and groaned as she gingerly rubbed her aching head, "Where am I?"

"We're in the hotel. You passed out after helping the Kyuubi vessel," Kisame said from his spot on the chair beside her bed.

"Naruto!" Her eyes widened with realization of what happened between her ex-teammates. "What happened to them?" she asked urgently.

"No worries, little blossom, we didn't kill them."

Sakura sighed in relief and lay back down on her bed, "Thank goodness."

"So how are ya feelin'? Ya been out for almost two days."

"Like shit."

"We still have a mission to do ya know."

"Your concern is flattering."

"You're welcome," Kisame flashed a toothy grin and Sakura couldn't help but smile back at her partner's attempt to cheer her up.

Her time with these people had been nothing but headaches and it was starting to take its toll on her. "I'm still pretty tired Kisame, I'm going to go back to sleep for a bit. Is that okay?"

"Yeah, sure, little blossom. I'll wake you up for dinner."

"Thanks."

-

A few hours later, Itachi returned from scouting and mapping out the little town to find Sakura still asleep and Kisame sharpening a few kunai.

"How is she?" Itachi walked over to where Kisame sat.

"She woke up a while ago. Something's been bothering me about her chakra; it seems irregular."

"I noticed that as well. I assumed it was just exhaustion and would return to normal after resting; I assume it hasn't yet."

"No, I think her chakra somehow merged with the Kyuubi's, and now it's screwing up her whole system."

"The only way to remedy that is to remove it."

"Yeah, but the thing is, it's merged with her own, so if I get rid of the fox's chakra…"

"You'll drain all of Sakura's as well."

Kisame nodded, "The logical thing to do would be to lend her some chakra while I drain hers out until she can replenish her own, but for some reason, her body keeps rejecting mine."

"Hn," Itachi walked to the bed and looked down at Sakura's sleeping face. "I will give her mine then." He placed a hand atop hers and pumped out some chakra to see whether she would accept it or not…Bingo. Accepted. "When shall we begin?"

"Now's as good a time as any I guess, while her system is still functioning."

"Very well."

Kisame hovered Samehada over the core of her chakra system and began to pull out all of her chakra. When her levels got to a dangerous level, Itachi pushed his own chakra through her. They continued until all of her chakra was gone from her body and was replaced with Itachi's.

"You didn't have to fill her levels up that much you know, just enough so she'd survive."

"Hn," Itachi left the room and went to the washroom to shower.

-

The next time Sakura woke up it was well past nightfall and Kisame had just returned with their dinner. By then, her chakra had replenished itself considerably and she wasn't feeling as weak as she'd been the last time she woke up.

"Did you guys find Etsuko and Kaito?" she joined them at small table near the bed

"We did." Itachi said as he began to eat his share. "Are you well enough to resume the mission?"

"Whoa, slow down there. She just woke up. Don't you think she should rest a bit longer?"

"Our target is only here for a limited amount of time. We cannot afford to wait much longer."

"I'm fine Kisame, we can start as early as tonight if you want."

"Very well, we will investigate the trade spot to familiarize ourselves. Sakura, you will be Etsuko and I will be Kaito. Kisame, stay in the shadows. Make sure you are not seen."

"Hai," they chorused.

"Ne," Sakura said as she ate her dinner, "Did you guys do anything while I was asleep?"

"Why do you ask, little blossom?"

"My chakra feels weird, and kind of cold. Plus, I'm sure I have someone else's chakra in me."

"That would be mine," Itachi fixed his gaze on a point on the wall.

"…Why?"

"It does not matter now."

"Of course it does! It's _my_ body and I should know what's happening inside of it!"

"Calm down, blossom. We didn't do anything bad. Itachi pretty much saved your life, but I helped of course," Kisame winked.

"What did you do?"

Itachi sighed almost inaudibly, "The Kyuubi's chakra was in your system and it would have killed you."

"Yeah, so I drained it out and Itachi pumped his chakra through you so you wouldn't die."

"O-oh…thanks." Sakura resumed her dinner.

"So, Itachi's chakra is cold huh? I thought as much, his entire being is pretty cold if you ask me," the Kiri nin tried to lighten the mood.

"Yeah, it kind of is. It feels like there's a deep chill in my bones, but not so much that makes me shiver, you know what I mean? Is that what you're feeling Itachi? Are you always cold like this?"

"I am, but I've grown accustomed to the sensation and I no longer notice it."

The trio ate the rest of their meal in a light mood, their conversation steering clear of the encounter with the Leaf nin. Sakura did her best to conceal her troubled thoughts, but her two companions saw it clearly, though they made no move to acknowledge that they did.

-

The next morning, Kisame offered to take Sakura shopping for some new clothes, under the effects of a henge of course. They were forbidden to show their true identity anywhere near the town and besides, a young girl with a shark-like man would definitely attract a few more people than they were comfortable with because the little town they were staying in was a civilian place and not many ninja passed through there. Using their mission funds, they picked out a few elegant kimonos befitting of her rich young girl alias. They couldn't get any training gear around the area, so Kisame promised to take her out again when they got back to the base. They explored the town for the rest of the day to see if they could get any information on Takahashi Kenji. Finding nothing, they decided to go back to the hotel as the sun began to set.

Upon returning, Itachi announced that they'd go to a restaurant that was being used as a place to meet up and trade goods. Sakura got ready and changed into one of the kimono's they'd bought earlier. It was a deep navy blue with large silver and gold flowers embroidered along the left side. The obi was a cream-like color with small light pink flowers that matched the ones on the kimono. Her hair was fixed in an intricate bun with a few stray strands farming her pale face. The henge wasn't cast on them yet, so her eyes were still the enchanting emerald color they usually were and her hair was still pink and matched with the small flowers on her obi. Had Itachi been a regular guy, he would've choked on the tea he was currently drinking and gawked at her beauty.

However, Kisame didn't feel the need to hide his obvious approval, and he whistled, "Looking good little blossom."

Sakura just stood awkwardly, "Uh … thanks, Kisame." Then she looked over to Itachi, who was dressed in a simple black suit with his hair hanging loosely around his shoulders.

'_Daaaaamn,' _Inner Sakura gaped at him, _'He is fiiiine!' _

She shook her head at her inner self's observation and couldn't help but blush under his smoldering gaze.

His eyes held the same intensity they did that first night back at the base when he stared at her, trying to get her to eat some food.

"Sh-shall we go?" Sakura looked away.

"Very well."

Itachi cast a henge on himself and Sakura, making them look identical to the pair he had taken out the other day. Sakura had brown hair and deep amber eyes, while Itachi had a pair of deep blue eyes and his hair had changed into a shimmering silver color but he kept his old length. Kisame's appearance had also been altered and now looked like an ordinary civilian in a red dress shirt and plain black dress pants. His hair was a dark black and his eyes were charcoal grey. Overall, his appearance was ordinary so he wouldn't attract any attention.

-

They arrived at the fancy restaurant later that evening and were seated three tables away from Kisame. Itachi and Sakura talked casually and appeared as two people having a casual dinner, not two ninja getting ready to assassinate a weapons dealer, nor did they seem to be a rich young lady and her bodyguard waiting for the latest arrival of illegal and lethal weapons.

"Are you ready to order?" the waiter leered at Sakura.

They placed their order and Itachi noticed his partner's uncomfortable demeanor. The waiter walked by and he noticed Sakura shift in her seat and inch away from the man's line of sight.

"I apologize, but your food may take a while longer, the chef seems to be having some difficulty in the kitchen. Is there something I can get you," he eyed Sakura up and down, "while you wait?"

Itachi glared at the other man and placed his hand on Sakura's.

The waiter's eyes widened in realization and politely bowed walking away hurriedly.

Sakura sighed in relief as she tried to hide her blush, "Thank you."

"Hn."

Their main course was interrupted by a young gentleman who sat down beside 'Etsuko' and gave them a sinister smirk.

"Haven't seen you in a while m'lady, sir. We have many new things I believe will suit your interests."

This man fit the description and was no doubt their target, but they couldn't take him out here in the open. They'd need to go somewhere more secluded, so the pair decided to play along until they got the opportunity.

"Oh? And what would those be?" Sakura said in a bored tone as she continued to eat her meal.

"Well this is an inappropriate place to be speaking about such matters, so when you finish your meal, I'll be waiting outside for you, in the back."

He could not be making it any easier for them if he tried. He was going to be waiting outside, in the dark, and in the back to boot! This would be an easy mission. Then Naruto's words came rushing into Sakura's mind. _'How many people have you killed?' _She bit back the guilt and nodded silently as Kenji left their table.

'_This is just a mission,' _she reassured herself, _'I've done this a million times back in Konoha and this is no different.'_

Just as they were about to ask for the bill, Sakura's eyes widened when she saw a head unruly silver hair.

'_Kakashi!' _her mind went into overdrive. Would he recognize her and Itachi? No, Itachi's illusion was flawless and their chakra's were cloaked.

"Kaito," she said in a low voice.

"Hn." He said as he finished off his meal. He couldn't say much else because of Kakashi's ultrasensitive hearing.

Sakura's eyes stayed trained on her plate and fisted her hands so tightly that they left imprints in her palm. She loosened them to prevent her nails from breaking skin. If she were to bleed, Kakashi would definitely smell it.

He walked by their table and Kakashi paused mid-step.

Sakura glanced at her partner before looking up to meet the jonin's gaze, "Can we help you, sir?"

Itachi looked up momentarily before returning his attention to the table. Kakashi stared at her a while longer before breaking eye contact.

"Ah—no, I'm sorry. I thought you were someone else."

'Etsuko' smiled and gave a light nod, "It's alright, I seem to get that a lot."

"Well then, have a good night, I'm sorry to have interrupted your meal."

"Hai."

"He is suspicious of us, we will need to leave this town as soon as possible," Itachi put some money on the table for the tip and the meal as he escorted his charge outside.

Sakura nodded and allowed herself to be guided through the restaurant. They passed Kisame's table and gave a curt nod before continuing on their way to the back.

The mission was completed with no difficulty and the returned to the base as soon as they finished, refusing to stop by the hotel that night. The journey back was swift and tiring and Sakura wanted nothing more than to go to sleep when they returned.

-

Sakura resumed her training when they returned and life was no different from before they left and met with her old team. Except for herself of course; not externally though. No, she was the same old Sakura from before, but inside, she was finding it so much harder to get up in the morning, to eat her meals, to even talk. She considered committing suicide a few times, but discarded the idea immediately after it entered her mind. She made her choice and she didn't regret it; she would see it through till the end. Sure, killing herself would make things a lot easier, but she refused to take the coward's way out. She would live and protect Naruto. Who knows if Leader would keep his end of their agreement if she were to mysteriously die. Sakura wouldn't take the chance. Thus, she continued to act as she usually did, hoping no one would notice. However, everyone noticed, but refused to say anything about it. Only Kisame and Itachi knew the reason behind her acting, but no one asked, so no one told.

After training with Tobi, she moved on to training with Kisame to work on her endurance and try to raise her chakra limits. Then, she moved on to work with Deidara for her ninjutsu and taijutsu.

One day, after training, Sakura went to the courtyard to take her mind off of Naruto and her team.

"I'm doing the right thing… aren't I?" She asked no one in particular.

"Do you believe you are?" Itachi sat down on the bench beside her.

"Itachi! I didn't see you there…"

"You're regretting your decision."

"I'm not… I'm just … well, I'm not really sure what, but I don't regret joining, I don't regret saving Naruto or my village."

"Then why do you question your choices?"

"Naruto practically hates me … Didn't you ever regret what you did back in Konoha? Even if only at first?"

A heartbeat of silence. "Never."

"Really, well I guess I can't be as resolute as you."

They sat in silence for a while as they watched the sunset.

"I believe you made the right decision, Sakura."

She stared at him in disbelief, "You…"

He stared back at her, his expression never changing. "I what?"

"You just gave me your opinion!"

"I am aware of that." A pregnant silence hung over them.

"Thank you," Sakura caught him off guard as she hugged him, burying her face in his shoulder.

Itachi just sat there awkwardly for a few moments before slowly returning her embrace, "You are welcome."

She finally broke away and returned to her spot on the bench. "You know Itachi, you're surprisingly a really nice person. Why don't you show that more often?"

"I can assure you that I am not a 'nice person' Sakura."

"Of course not," she giggled.

They made their way back inside for dinner with the rest of the group and everyone seemed to notice that Sakura cheered up considerably. Deidara sent a suspicious glance towards Itachi while the rest of them listened to an exaggerated story only Tobi could come up with.

A pair of ninja walked through the door then, one with silver hair wearing a rosary and another one as mysterious as Sasori's old puppet.

"Oy! Hidan, Kakuzu! What are you doing here?"

"Leader told us to come meet the new kid, she needs me for a training dummy," the one with silver hair walked over to Sakura. "I'm Hidan and that creep's Kakuzu," he introduced, pointing a finger to his partner. "Leader said I can leave after you finish your training so hurry it up, I got places to be."

Sakura raised an eyebrow, "Hai, we can start tomorrow then."

The pair left without another word, leaving a silent kitchen.

"Those two creep me out, yeah," Deidara said, breaking the heavy silence.

"You can say that again." Kisame resumed his meal.

Sakura excused herself from dinner and went to her room. She was tired and in dire need of a good rest.

-

Two months after Sakura started training, she had one last match with Hidan to prove herself. If she won today, her training would be over and she could move on to real missions with her own partner, instead of tagging along with who ever needed her. Of course Hidan wasn't allowed to kill her, but he'd be damned if he was just going to stand there and take the beating.

"I'm not going easy on you," he called from across the battlefield.

"I don't expect you to," she called back as she put her worn gloves on.

Kisame, Itachi, Deidara, and Tobi were all present to watch the match. Sasori was on a mission and would not get back until tomorrow and Sakura really didn't want to wait.

Nearly two hours later, Hidan and Sakura were both panting, nearly at the end of the line. Hidan had been able to get some blood from her, but Sakura managed to close up the wound and used a low-level Suiton jutsu to wash the blood from his weapon. This way, he wouldn't be able to beat her that way. In the end, Sakura came out the victor and Tobi ran up to her immediately after it was over and gave her a congratulatory hug. Kisame and Deidara gave her a pat on the back.

"I went easy on you, brat." Hidan said as he walked back inside, clearly out of breath.

"You have improved," Itachi said as he walked to the group. "Leader has called for you." With that, he went inside after Hidan, expecting Sakura to follow.

"That's as much of a 'good job' as you're gonna get from him, blossom." Kisame called after her.

"I know," she said with a smile as she followed Itachi inside.

Who would her partner be? She was excited, yes, but she also dreaded the type of missions she would be getting as Naruto's words kept ringing through her head. She shook her head and caught up with Itachi. She'd just have to wait and see then…

-

A/N: Yeah, I realize that wasn't a great way to end the chapter, sorry about that.

I decided to keep Kakuzu and Hidan alive, cuz it would be kind of troublesome to figure out why they've come back to life, or Sakura's reaction, since I don't want it to be the same as it was with Sasori.

I don't know much about Hidan so he's pretty OOC. Forgive me please ?

Sorry this chapter seems somewhat pointless with not a whole lot of plot… and I was really lazy to write another battle scene… SORRY! If anyone has any real problems with that, I can go back and write it out, just let me know.

My posts may be a bit more spread out from now on because I just got really sick all of a sudden. I don't know if it's swine flu or whatnot, but I'll be in bed a lot for the next little while.

Thanks for reading!

Hope you enjoyed. Reviews are highly appreciated. :D


	7. Chapter 7

**Last Priority**

**Chapter 7**

_Enjoy (:_

-

_Previously on Last priority…_

"_You have improved," Itachi said as he walked to the group. "Leader has called for you." With that, he went inside after Hidan, expecting Sakura to follow._

"_That's as much of a 'good job' as you're gonna get from him, blossom." Kisame called after her._

"_I know," she said with a smile as she followed Itachi inside._

_Who would her partner be? She was excited, yes, but she also dreaded the type of missions she would be getting as Naruto's words kept ringing through her head. She shook her head and caught up with Itachi. She'd just have to wait and see then…_

-

"Sakura-san, I understand that you've completed your training," Pein's deep voice rang throughout the dark office.

"Hai."

"Then I'm proud to say that now, you are an official member of the Akatsuki. Congratulations Sakura-san. You'll find your cloak and ring in your room."

"Thank you," she replied politely. Was she really thanking him for kidnapping and blackmailing her? No, it was just common courtesy to say thank you when someone congratulates you.

"As for your partner…I'm sure you're aware that your medic skills are highly respected so I will be pairing you with Itachi for now. His eyesight is slowly deteriorating and he needs an accomplished medic to heal his eyes."

"I thought as much."

"Good, so you've been expecting it. No complaints then?"

'_I never said that,' _she thought to herself.

"No."

"Very well, you're dismissed. Welcome to the Akatsuki Haruno Sakura."

Sakura nodded and left the room. She half expected Itachi to be waiting outside like he always did, but instead, Deidara was standing outside the door.

"Oy, what took you so long, yeah? What'd he do, rape you?"

Sakura's eyes widened and her face turned into a giant tomato. "Of course not, Deidara!"

The blonde raised his hand in defense in case she decided to punch him. "I was kidding, yeah! Anyway," he tried to change the subject before she got really mad, "We're gonna throw you a party to celebrate, yeah!" He gave her the details and she thanked him before going to her room.

-Later that evening-

Sakura looked at her reflection in the mirror. Deidara said it was a formal party so she picked out one of the kimonos she and Kisame bought on her first mission. It was a black with the silhouette of dragons scattered along the bottom half and right arm. The designs were various shades of gold and yellow, blending intricately with the material of the kimono. The obi was a warm jade; the designs were much simpler compared to the kimono. There were many swirls spread out along the green material and it tied into a much larger bow than any of her other kimonos, nearly reaching the ground. Sakura left her hair down and it reached her waist. She sighed and walked out the door, making her way to the living area. When she arrived, there were many more people than she had expected. She assumed it would only be the members of Akatsuki, but there were men and women of all ages talking amongst themselves, some in traditional kimonos, and others in more modern western-style clothes.

"Sakura-san! Tobi thinks you look amazing!" The masked man bounced over to where Sakura stood and hugged her tightly.

She returned his embrace somewhat awkwardly. "Thank you, Tobi. You look great as well."

"You really think so Sakura-san? Thank you!!"

"Oy, Tobi! You shouldn't hug her so tightly, yeah. You're gonna wrinkle her kimono."

"Ah! I'm so sorry! Tobi will fix it!" He let go of her immediately and straightened out all of the wrinkles he could find.

"You look good, Sakura, yeah," Deidara commented offhandedly.

"Thanks, you look good yourself," she smiled. "Um, if you don't mind me asking, who are all these people?"

"They're just our bunshins under a henge, so it seems like a real party," Tobi answered cheerfully. "Enjoy yourself, Sakura-san and congratulations!"

"Thank you, Tobi."

He nodded enthusiastically and disappeared into the crowd. Sakura and Deidara talked for a while longer before she excused herself and made her way to the courtyard, saying something about moonlight and fresh air. It was lit up dimly with Japanese lanterns which reflected off the pond. She walked over to the bridge that loomed over said pond and leaned against the railing. With a troubled sigh, Sakura studied her reflection in the water. Being on the bridge like this reminded her of the bridge Team 7 used to meet at as genin.

"That was a big sigh, little blossom," Kisame appeared beside her. "Aren't you having fun?"

"The party's fine…"

"Then what's with the long face?"

They stood in silence for a while as Kisame waited for a reply and Sakura thought of an appropriate on to give.

"It's just…" More silence. "It feels like I'm celebrating my betrayal of the village, yenno?"

"Well maybe you should try to not think of it that way," he placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"It's hard not to, I just can't help it."

"Was the party a bad idea then?"

"No, no. It was really great of you all to do this, thank you. You know, I never would have thought that the Akatsuki were the type of people you really are. I always thought you were all just cold, blood thirsty killers—"

"And we can be when we need to."

"Yeah, but you're also capable of being nice and joking around just like anyone else. You guys are all pretty normal… for the most part."

"Gee, thanks," Kisame sweat-dropped. "It's not something we like to spread, might tarnish the rep ya know?" He grinned, keeping the mood light.

Sakura smiled back. "Ne, out of curiosity, if Itachi's going to be my partner now, then what about you?"

"Eh, Leader's gonna send me on a few solo missions, thanks to you."

"Hey, _you're_ the ones who kidnapped _me_, remember?"

"I was just kidding," Kisame laughed.

"Of course you were," she replied sardonically.

"I don't mind doing a few solo missions. They're not that bad, plus I won't have to rush and be on schedule all the time like Itachi likes to be. I'm warnin' you now, blossom, he's not the greatest travelling companion,"

"Of course not, that'd be you wouldn't it?" Sakura winked.

"Ah, now you're catching on." They both laughed. "I think I hear Deidara calling me. He's probably gonna bring out the sake soon."

Sakura giggled at the thought of a drunken Kisame and Deidara. "Don't get too drunk."

"Hey, no promises. Congrats, little blossom."

"Thanks," she called after his retreating figure. She continued to stare into the water for a while until she felt Itachi standing beside her, mimicking her actions and staring into his own reflection.

Sakura looked up at him, "Hey partner," she said with a smile.

Itachi raised an eyebrow and nodded, "Good evening, Sakura."

Her smile grew, "You answered!"

"It would be impolite to ignore you."

"Yeah, I guess."

They stood staring at the water, their shoulders slightly brushing against each other. They were both completely aware of the contact but neither acknowledged it, nor did the make a move to get away.

"What aren't you inside? This celebration is for you after all."

"I thought I'd spend some time outside. It's beautiful out here."

"Indeed."

"Why aren't _you _inside?"

"Tobi was getting rather… affectionate." Itachi inwardly grimaced at the memory. Sakura laughed at the mental image of Tobi hugging a grumpy looking Itachi.

"So, it's official now. I'm really a missing nin of Konoha."

"You are."

She pulled out her forehead protector from her obi and sighed

"You've yet to slash through the village symbol."

"Yeah, I guess I really have to now."

They stood in silence and Itachi held a kunai out to her. Sakura nodded took it from him, making a solid slash right the leaf symbol. She began to shake, but refused to let the tears fall from her eyes. Itachi noticed her shaking figure and placed a steady hand on her shoulder. They stayed that way until Sakura was able to pull herself together. They made their way back inside to enjoy what was left of the night. Well, Sakura tried to enjoy it; Itachi just _endured_ it.

The early hours of the morning began to roll around and the night's events took their toll on Sakura. "I'm going to go to bed now, goodnight everyone. Thanks again."

She went to her room and took off the many layers of her kimono before she slipped into one of the outfits Itachi had given her. Deidara had taken her to get her own clothes when she returned from her first mission as Kisame was sent out on another immediately after. Sakura now had plenty of clothes but Itachi's were very comfortable to sleep in so she kept them. They weren't practical seeing as they were much too big on her so she didn't use them on the battlefield. Her mind wandered along the many possibilities of her first mission. The reality of the whole thing hit her then; she was an Akatsuki, enemy of her beloved Konoha and everyone she loved, she was a missing nin and she had fought her ex-teammates. Everything she had worked so hard for was destroyed, but what scared her the most was that she couldn't bring herself to hate the Akatsuki for doing this to her. Alone and in the privacy of her own bedroom, she let the tears fall silently and unrelenting, thoroughly soaking the pillow her face was currently buried in.

"Oy, Sakura, do you—" Deidara walked into her room, forgetting to knock. He was going to give her a cup of tea to help with the headache he was sure she would be having. The blonde nin realized she was crying and placed the tea on the bedside table before sitting on the side of the bed to rub comforting circles on her back. He stayed silent, because really, there were no words that could ease her heavy spirits. He had been through something similar and he knew saying something like 'It's going to be alright,' was not what she'd want to hear. At this point, she believed it would be anything _but _alright and having someone say it was would undoubtedly anger her. They remained that way for a long while until Sakura lifted herself of the bed into a sitting position to look at Deidara.

"Sorry I didn't knock, yeah, I thought you'd like some tea," He smiled sheepishly, hoping to lighten the mood, if only a little.

"It's fine," she smiled back sadly.

Sakura's tears began to fall again no matter how much Sakura tried to hold them back. Deidara looked at her for a few seconds before pulling her into his arms and stroking her hair comfortingly. This only caused the tears to fall harder because it reminded her so much of Naruto. He would always do this with her, even if she wasn't crying. Naruto had always just _known _when she needed him and he would be there, even at three o'clock in the morning. She had a feeling that Deidara would become her Naruto here in the Akatsuki, resembling not just the boy's looks, but also his personality. Sakura gripped onto Deidara's shirt with a white-knuckled fist as her sobs racked through her body.

"It's okay, just let it out," came Deidara's soothing voice.

"G-gomen, Deidara … I'm getting your … sh-shirt all wet," she said between her sobs

"Don't be sorry, yeah, I don't care about this shirt anyway"

Sakura nodded as she buried her face deep into the crook of his neck. Eventually, Sakura cried herself to sleep and Deidara tucked her into bed, leaving her room silently.

That night, Sakura made a silent vow to herself never to cry again. She would never show weakness in that form again as long as she could help it. She would be strong for herself and for anyone around her who may need it. Never again would she let these silent tears fall, nor would she burden anyone like she had Deidara, Naruto, Kakashi, or anyone else.

-

"Sakura, Leader has called for us," Itachi informed his partner from his spot across the table as they ate their dinner.

"You think he has a mission for us?" She asked, staring thoughtfully into her tea.

"Perhaps."

"What kind do you think we'll get?"

"It depends."

"Hm…I hope we don't get an assassination mission…"

"It is always a possibility."

"Yeah, I guess it is."

Silence.

"You need to learn some conversational skills, Itachi."

"Such skills are unnecessary. What would I use them for?"

"Talking to people."

"As I said; unnecessary."

"Well it's going to be necessary if you're going to be my partner."

"Hn."

Sakura huffed and finished her meal in silence as Itachi smirked at her childish behavior. He seemed to find her current displeasure amusing. She noticed his smirk and stuck her tongue out at him, causing his smirk to grow.

'_Insufferable bastard,' _Sakura thought to herself.

'_That insufferable bastard is our new partner, so you better learn to live with it.' _Her inner self reminded her.

'Great,_ this is going to be a long partnership…' _she thought grumpily.

'_But we'll love it!'_

'_Shut up, no we won't.'_

'… _Sure ...'_

-

Itachi knocked on the wood of the office door to announce to their Leader that they were there.

"Come in," a deep voice called from the other side of the door. He walked in and Sakura followed, closing the door quietly behind her.

"Good evening Itachi, Sakura," Pein looked at the two ninja in front of him, clearly pleased. They nodded their greetings and waited for him to continue. "I have a mission for you. Two squads of sound nin have been tailing us and trying to track down this base for the past two and a half months. It seems Orochimaru has taken an interest in the scroll we salvaged from that fire in Mikawaya a while back. They are currently in Katsuya in Bird country, gathering information about us. Do what you can to _discourage_ our friends. It will take three days to travel to the town of Katsuya and it shouldn't take more than two days to deal with the problem, if you do it quietly. Overall, this mission will take just over a week, but it is fairly simple. This way, you two can get used to each other and synchronize your movements, think of it as training, if you will. You will leave tonight, in two hours. Use that time to prepare your things"

"Hai," Sakura was eager to get out of this stuffy office and away from Pein. Itachi simply nodded and with that, they left the dark office.

They prepared their things and left when they were told to. Sakura put her cloak and ring on, revolted at the very idea, but she walked to the living room to meet Itachi.

"Looks good, yeah," Deidara said, trying to cheer her up when she walked by.

"Thank you," Sakura tried her very best to smile.

Itachi went over the plan and they left the base for their first mission together. They travelled through the forest to Katsuya for the whole night and a majority of the next day, stopping only to eat before dashing through the trees with renewed vigor. They travelled at what felt like a relaxed pace to Sakura, but she knew that before her training, this speed would have been grueling and she would not have been able to keep up. On the second night, they found a place to make camp and rest.

"Ne, Itachi, I can start healing your eyes now, if you want," Sakura sat down beside her partner as they both stared into the fire.

"Very well," came Itachi's expected response as he turned to face her.

"It might feel a little weird to have my chakra in such a sensitive place at first, so you'll have to just wait until your body adjusts," she informed.

"Hn." It was very hard to trust himself completely to someone else, and he didn't like the weak feeling of vulnerability. Having to lower his guard completely to a young girl was not something he wished to do, but he trusted her and somehow, it didn't feel quite as unsettling knowing just _who _he was trusting his most treasured ability to. He closed his eyes and felt Sakura's warm chakra prodding through his eyes; it was … strange at first, just like she said it would be, but he grew accustomed to the feeling and soon found it to be soothing and comfortable. She asked him to switch between the regular sharingan and the Mangekyou and to turn it off completely to see the differences.

It was worse than Sakura had initially thought. Every time he used the Mangekyou sharingan, he was sending amplified amounts of chakra to his eyes and when he deactivated it, it left chakra residue along the optical nerve which hindered his eyesight. If he left it untreated for much longer, there would have been so much chakra build up that the message from his eyes to his brain would have been delayed and he would get a slow reaction. The only thing worse than no eyesight at all, was having delayed eyesight; he'd still be able to see, but everything would be a second later than what the rest of his senses were telling him. When he was in danger, he'd hear it, smell it, touch it, even taste it, but he wouldn't see it until it was too late. Thankfully, he could be healed and have his old, perfect vision again, but it would take a few sessions and he'd need periodical checkups as long as he continued to use his Mangekyou, which wasn't a problem.

"I can fix it, but it'll take a few sessions a week, and I can relieve you of the headache such stress on your optical nerves must be causing you," she informed her patient.

"Hn."

They began their session, which took a few hours.

"Okay, open your eyes."

Itachi did as told and blinked a few times. It was amazing what she'd been able to do in one session. He never realized just _how much_ his eyesight had deteriorated and it seemed to him that this new eyesight she'd given to him was as good as it got. But she said it would take a few weeks and if it got better and better every time … well he couldn't wait till she finished her job. He surveyed the forest to see that the outlines of trees, rocks, bushes, even their camp area was much sharper than he had seen before he closed his eyes. Even in the dark, the world seemed much more… _alive _through his new eyes. He felt like a child in a candy store, amazed at everything he was seeing around him. Had he been a regular shinobi, and not Uchiha Itachi, his mouth would have been agape at his amazement. Sakura could see it though; she could tell he was pleased with her work by looking into his dark ebony eyes.

"How is it?" Sakura looked up at her partner

"It is much clearer, thank you."

She smiled at him, "No problem."

Itachi said he'd take first shift so she could get some rest, but Sakura knew that he wanted to look around some more and get a feel for his new eyesight.

-

They reached Katsuya with no trouble and detected the sound nin easily. Itachi suggested they lure them out into the forest to prevent being seen by the civilians. Sakura did as told and they engaged the enemies in battle. Sakura took on four and Itachi was left with the remaining five.

"Help!" Sakura heard a little voice call.

She looked over to the source of the voice and failed to dodge the katana that swung at her, which left a long, deep gash on her dominant right calf in its wake. She concentrated her healing chakra to the wound to numb the pain; she'd have to heal it later. She saw a little boy, no older than 7, a few meters to her left, stuck under a fallen tree; she knew she needed to save him, but what about her opponents? Sakura threw several kunai with explosive tags attached to the end at the sound nin and used the dust and debris from the explosion as coverage to go over to the little boy.

"Help!" he cried out again.

"Are you hurt?"

The little boy shook his head, "Just stuck."

Sakura used her massive strength to pull the tree off the little boy. Where was she supposed to put him now? They were too far from Katsuya to send him off on his own, but if she left him here, he would definitely get caught in the battle and get hurt. She molded her chakra into a bubble around the boy, hoping it would hold up until the battle was finished.

"Go hind behind a tree until I come get you okay?" she bent down to his height. He nodded vigorously and ran off.

Sakura turned around and narrowly avoided the Katon justsu aimed at her heart. The chakra she used to make the shield around the boy had taken a lot out of her and she knew she'd have to finish this quick if she wanted to survive her first mission.

Itachi and Sakura killed off the last of the sound nin and brought the little boy to safety before making their way back to their hotel.

-

"You endangered our mission for the sake of a little boy." Itachi spoke to his partner coldly.

"Did you expect me to just leave him there to die?!"

"In case it has escaped your notice, Sakura, you are a criminal now; you cannot save every single person you come across," he continued in his infuriatingly calm voice.

"We didn't fail the mission, the boy is safe with his family and everyone's happy so what's the big deal?"

"The _big deal _is that this will affect our teamwork and trust. How am I to trust your judgment next time we go on a mission?"

Sakura sighed, "I'm sorry, Itachi, I'm still getting used to this whole thing, so I just need some time to adjust. Just give me some time?" she asked tiredly. She hadn't been able to close her wound because she was already low on chakra and the blood loss was tiring her out.

"Very well." He left her on the bed and went to the washroom. Sakura thought she had angered him and wanted to go and talk to him to make sure they were okay, but the pain from her injury was becoming too much and she wanted nothing more than to curl up in bed and pass out. As she was getting ready to go to sleep, hoping to recover some chakra to heal herself, Itachi emerged from the washroom with a first aid kit handy. He knelt down beside the bed and began to clean her wound.

"Itachi, what are you…" Sakura did her best to hide her blush at their close proximity and Itachi's gentle hands.

"It will be dangerous and painful to sleep with that wound and you are too weary to dress it yourself," Itachi regarded her coolly.

"H-hai, thanks."

'_Why _was_ it such a big deal?' _Itachi thought to himself as he dressed her wound. They hadn't failed their mission and he was never one to complain about their method, as long as it got done. As for the trust issue, he knew Sakura was soft and that she would save anyone she could so it didn't surprise him, but he still trusted her as a partner. Then why was he so upset that she did what she did?

'_Because she got hurt doing it,' _a voice inside told him.

'_That's ridiculous,' _he convinced himself. Since when did it upset him when his teammates got hurt?

'_But you could have stopped it,' _that same voice chimed out.

Was he mad at himself then? Did he really blame himself for her injury? No, that was her fault.

He began to get frustrated stopped that particular train of thought before he got lost in his own thoughts.

"Thank you Itachi…and..." Sakura looked away when he finished.

"What is it?" he said not unkindly.

"I really _am _sorry."

"Hn," he nodded. "It is fine."

Sakura smiled to herself and pulled the sheets up, "Night."

"Goodnight Sakura."

-

"Sakura, I believe we have already spoken about this," Itachi regarded his injured partner.

Once again, Sakura had saved someone else and got herself all beat up, and once again, here she was getting lectured by the Uchiha genius.

"Then _don't _talk about it again, since you hate repeating yourself," Sakura glared at Itachi from her spot on the bed.

"I did not say I _hate _repeating myself, besides, as you said, sometimes you need to repeat something constantly to get the message." It didn't show on the outside, but Itachi was furious. The way he was bandaging her up with such gentle hands, Sakura would never have guessed his inner rage.

Her glare hardened, if that was possible, "What is your damn problem?!"

"As I said, this brings up issues with our teamwork and trust. Having Kakashi as your sensei, you know how important that is."

"I haven't gotten you killed and we didn't fail the mission this time, last time, and we won't next time! So don't give me your shit about trust."

"You could have gotten yourself killed, Sakura." Through her anger, she didn't realize his meaning behind that statement. _He didn't want her to die; he was worried about her._

"Oh yeah, that would be horrible," she rolled her eyes, "then you'd never be able to hear my annoying voice again, what a loss. Or…" realization dawned on her, "Maybe you're mad because if I die, you won't have anyone to heal your eyes. Is that it Itachi? So after I fix your damned eyes, you'll stop giving me hell for doing what comes naturally, right? After that, I can go and get myself hurt or killed then it won't matter. Or even better, you'll get a new partner; maybe you'll get even Kisame back." She continued on, letting her rage loose on Itachi. He let her continue for a while as he finished bandaging her shoulder, but soon got tired of it and decided to end her rant. Before she knew what was happening, Itachi was sitting on the side of the bed and she felt his lips pressed against hers. Sakura's eyes widened into saucers in shock and her hands flew up to his shoulders, ready to push him away, but then he started to move his lips against hers and she decided she really didn't want to. The initial shock wore off and she found herself kissing him back, albeit rather shyly, but Itachi didn't seem to mind. His tongue darted out to trace her bottom lip, asking for permission, which she readily gave him, as her eyes drifted shut. Itachi's hand curled around her waist, careful to avoid her injured shoulder, while the other snaked its way through her hair and rested on her neck. Sakura's hands weaved through his hair, pulling out his hair tie loose so she could run her fingers through the full length of his ebony tresses. His tongue mapped out her soft cavern and coaxed her shy muscle into playing. Their kiss was languid and unrushed, mostly just discovering each other. This wasn't Sakura's first kiss, far from it really, but this was by far the most amazing and she was hesitant to break away. When they eventually parted for air, she looked up at him through hazy eyes.

"Itachi," she practically whispered before he was on her once again. This time wasn't as relaxed as their first. They fought for dominance, which Sakura lost, and she gave in and let him take the lead. She lost herself in Itachi until a sharp pain shot through Sakura's right shoulder. Itachi was much taller than her and reaching her arm up to him must have caused her shoulder too much stress. Sakura gasped in pain and broke away, resting her forehead on his chest as she pulled her injured arm down to rest on her lap. Itachi held her for a while before disentangling himself from her and laying her down on the mattress.

"Rest, Sakura," he pulled the covers up to her chin and kissed her forehead.

Unable to fight off her fatigue any longer, she closed her eyes and drifted into a comfortable sleep.

-

**A/N: **Okay, so it wasn't as long as I would've liked, but people have been asking me to update, so I thought I would.

OoOoh, their first kiss ;)

Hmm… I wonder what's gonna happen the next morning ?

Thank you for reading

Hope you enjoyed. Reviews are highly appreciated. :D


	8. Chapter 8

**Last Priority**

**Chapter 8 **

_Enjoy (:_

_-_

_Previously on Last Priority…_

"_Itachi," she practically whispered before he was on her once again. This time wasn't as relaxed as their first. They fought for dominance, which Sakura lost, and she gave in and let him take the lead. She lost herself in Itachi until a sharp pain shot through Sakura's right shoulder. Itachi was much taller than her and reaching her arm up to him must have caused her shoulder too much stress. Sakura gasped in pain and broke away, resting her forehead on his chest as she pulled her injured arm down to rest on her lap. Itachi held her for a while before disentangling himself from her and laying her down on the mattress. _

"_Rest, Sakura," he pulled the covers up to her chin and kissed her forehead._

_Unable to fight off her fatigue any longer, she closed her eyes and drifted into a comfortable sleep._

-

Sakura woke to the smell of green tea and pancakes; what was it with the Akatsuki and pancakes, anyway? Memories of the previous night came back to her so suddenly that she had to suppress a groan at her foolishness. Not only was she starting to like her life in the Akatsuki and the people in it, but now she could add _kissing _Sasuke-kun's older brother to her list of betrayal. If she ever got out of here, Sasuke would never forgive her. Then a thought came to her; if the opportunity arose, would she _want_to leave these people she now called her friends? She had come to enjoy their company and looked forward to spending her time with them. Deidara had come to be her second Naruto, not that she wished to replace her blonde friend, he just reminded her of her best friend and surrogate brother in so many ways; Kisame's dry wit and joking manner was comforting and he was always able to make her smile; Tobi was like the little brother she never had, although she was certain he was older than her and somewhere behind that carefree attitude laid an exceptional shinobi worthy of his place in the Akatsuki. She had even found a friend in Sasori as they talked late nights, shared their knowledge of poisons, and challenged each other's logic. It was a refreshing change from the other three. Then there was Itachi; Cold, emotionless, calculating Itachi. She knew she was attracted to him in a way that wasn't entirely physical and he was a good companion and partner. He was interesting to be around, and behind that uncaring mask of his, he was gently and very considerate and she enjoyed spending her time with him. All of these men had somehow wormed their way into her heart and she was certain that should she be given the option to leave, she would have a hard time letting go, if she decided to leave at all. Sakura was pulled from her thoughts at the sound of footsteps approaching the bed and the delicious smell of maple syrup & pancakes.

"Eat," Itachi left the plate beside her and walked to the window, "We leave in three hours so pack your belongings." His tone was clipped and it left Sakura rather unsettled.

The first thing she noticed about him was that he was deliberately avoiding eye contact. Her eyes narrowed. So he was distancing himself from her? She had no doubt that his change of attitude was due to their kiss yesterday. Just when she was getting comfortable around him, he had to _kiss _her and ruin their … friendship? It was entirely his fault, he was the one who kissed her and now he was going to act like a child? No, that wasn't right, it was as much her fault as it was his, after all, she made no move to push him away, hell, she even kissed him back. Well maybe she could get him into talking about it, without actually bringing it up…

"What, no good morning?" she tried to strike up a conversation.

"Hn."

"You're awfully grumpy this morning, Itachi. Where are those communication skills we talked about?"

"Hn."

"…Are you alright?" Hopefully he'd take the hint and bring up last night's events.

"Hn."

Sakura huffed, "Grump."

Since he clearly had no intentions of talking about what happened last night, then fine, neither would she. Two could play that game, Uchiha. She continued to eat her breakfast in silence, ignoring the faint click of the bathroom door indicating that Itachi had left the room.

-

They had been travelling for nearly thirty-six hours straight and Sakura was getting a _tad bit _irritable. She had been mulling over their kiss and she really needed some answers. What did it mean to him? Was he thinking about it too? Why was he so hell bent on avoiding the topic, or avoiding her completely for that matter? It seemed to Sakura that if Itachi was going to be immature about this whole thing, then she'd have to take the initiative and bring it up herself.

"Itachi," she stopped on a branch.

"What is it?" He stopped on a branch in front of her, his voice was much colder than she was used to when he spoke to her.

"How can you…" the words died in her throat.

'_Just say it!' _Inner Sakura urged,

'_How can you kiss me like that and act like nothing happened?' _She said it over and over in her head.

A pregnant pause hung over them.

"How can I what?" Itachi regarded her frigidly, his back facing her. Sakura looked at the ground, thinking of what she was going to say. "If you have nothing to say, then I suggest we move on." Itachi was normally a very patient person and would have waited for her to say whatever it was she wanted to say to him. His snappy attitude and impatience toward her meant that he was just as bothered about their situation as she was. He was getting ready to move forward, but her soft voice stopped him.

"Itachi, wait."

He sighed inaudibly, turned around and hopped to the branch that Sakura was currently occupying to stand in front of her. "What is it?" He asked in a much gentler voice.

Sakura noticed their close proximity and fought down the hot blush that threatened to surface as she looked up into his eyes.

"About…"

Itachi knew what she was getting at and knew that if he didn't just come out and say something, they'd never get anywhere, and despite Sakura's belief, he wanted to clear up this mess between them too.

"I apologize for my actions yesterday,"

Sakura's eyes widened a fraction of an inch. He was _sorry_? That means he regretted it… Of course he did, it was just a way to shut her up and they got carried away. So that was it, no confession of undying love, but honestly, what did she expect? This was Uchiha Itachi she was dealing with; did she really believe he would come to have feelings for her? Certainly not, she kept telling herself.

Sensing that he would get no response from the kunoichi in front of him, he turned around and kept moving, "Let's go. We'll make camp at sunset."

Sakura could say nothing as her mind went through everything she had wanted—tried to say. She quickly snapped back to reality and followed her partner's retreating figure.

-

As promised, they found a small clearing near a river where they could set up camp and take a break.

"What is it you wish to say to me, Haruno-san?" Sakura was mildly surprised that he had not only added the honorific, but he had gone back to calling her Haruno.

"What makes you think I have anything to say to you _Itachi-kun?_"

"You have been looking at me for the past hour with a hateful spark in your eye; I assumed you had something on your mind."

"Even if I did, you really think I'd share it with you?"

"Hn."

Sakura's eyes narrowed dangerously at Itachi, glaring daggers at him.

"You are clearly bothered by what happened at the inn."

"Gee, you think?" She made no attempt to hide the sheer malice from her voice.

"I have already apologized,"

'_Which is a miracle in itself,'_Inner Sakura remarked.

"—what else do you wish for me to say, Sakura?" he continued in his infuriatingly calm voice.

"How about a reason?"

"I grew tired of hearing you rant about your hatred towards me and I wished to silence you." It was the truth; it just wasn't the _whole _truth. That had just been the convenient justification he needed to go through with it.

Sakura's eyes widened as her assumptions were confirmed. The kiss had meant absolutely nothing to him and the passion she _thought _she felt was non-existent; it just meant that Itachi was _that _good of a kisser, which raised the question, how did he get that good? Was it practice? The thought of Itachi kissing other women was disturbing to Sakura, but she tried to push such thoughts from her mind. Had she imagined him kissing her forehead and tucking her in? She must have been delusional from her injuries to have imagined him doing such a sweet thing.

Masking her emotions with a poker face that would've made Itachi proud, she simply nodded her head, "I thought so." The slight catch in her weakened voice gave her away though.

"Get some rest, Sakura," Itachi said in a voice that was _almost _gentle. She looked at him. "We leave at dawn; your fatigue will only slow us down." With that last statement, Itachi had successfully destroyed any beliefs or hopes she had that maybe, just maybe, he cared.

"Right, wake me up when you get tired." She knew he wouldn't, for that would mean admitting a weakness which was certainly not allowed with all Uchiha's, it seemed. She crawled into her sleeping bag and let her dreams carry her to a place far, far away.

-

Itachi looked at his female companion for a long time, just watching the silent rise and fall of her chest. What was this small, weak, worthless kunoichi doing to him? As much as he wanted to believe that she was weak and worthless, he had to admit that she had improved and become quite a force to be reckoned with. She could hold her own against most of the Akatsuki members. Sakura was an interesting individual and one if the only people who could continuously tease him and test his patience without being killed on the spot. Her eyes were on of her most captivating features and he found that, even before she started healing his eyes, he could stare into them and lose himself in their depths easily. In a world where blood and death were natural and expected, they held such innocence that he thought should not be possible; being a kunoichi, she had to use her body as a weapon in a way that was not entirely innocent. Her sparkling emerald orbs were the complete opposite of his own dark eyes that had seen and known the cruelties of the world at an age where he should have been nurturing is dreams and aspirations, where the future should have held bright, sunny skies, not the bloody, cruel world he had become accustomed to. Itachi chided himself for his moment of weakness that night in the inn and in the cave. He had allowed himself to indulge in his bodily desires when he kissed Sakura. He couldn't quite bring himself to regret it though, it had lived up to his expectations and he found himself wanting more, but he knew he had to end his little fascination with her. Nothing good could come of it if he continued to allow his body to take advantage of his better judgment. However, for this one night, he would allow himself to take in her features and just watch her.

-

"Sakura, it is nearing dawn. If you wish to eat breakfast, then I suggest you get up now." Itachi gently shook his partner to wake her. Sakura rubbed her eyes blearily and sat up.

"How long till we leave?" She asked groggily.

"One hour."

"That gives me plenty of time; do you want to work on your eyes for a bit?" The healing sessions varied in time spans, depending on how much time they had and how much chakra Sakura had to spare.

"Very well." Itachi sat down in front of her and closed his eyes.

They sat in silence as she worked on his eyes, but Sakura was surprised to find that it wasn't awkward in the least like she had expected. It was similar to the comfortable silence they shared before that night at the inn.

As if reading her thoughts, Itachi spoke up, "How is your shoulder, Sakura?"

She would be lying if she said she wasn't surprised at his sudden concern, but it was not unwelcome. "It's fine, thanks. I healed it completely before I went to sleep last night. How have your eyes been feeling?"

"They are getting better."

Sakura smiled at him, knowing that he knew she was smiling at him, even though his eyes were closed.

"That's good to hear."

Sakura frowned as she retracted her chakra from his eyes and he opened them. Itachi blinked a few times, taking in the change as he usually did. His new eyesight was remarkable and he thought that surely, this was as far as it would progress; how much further could she fix his eyes? Little did he know that he was right in his assumptions, but not in the way he wished to be.

She placed her hands on her lap and looked to the ground. Some thing was troubling her.

"Is something the matter?" he inquired.

"It's…your eyes." Sakura paused to think of how she was going to tell him as he waited patiently. "There's… something wrong with them."

"I am aware of that, isn't that why you're fixing them?"

"That's not what I meant!" She sighed, "Unfortunately, this is the best I can do for now. There's something slightly blocking your optical nerve and I can't seem to get rid of it. I'll need to do some research to figure out what it is. I'm sorry, I know I said I'd fix them back to normal, and I will, it'll just take a bit longer than I said."

Itachi thought about it for a while. "Very well, my eyesight has improved a great deal and I am pleased with the progress so far. There is no need for you to apologize."

Sakura nodded, "Kay." She got up and brushed off her clothes before holding a hand out to Itachi. He merely looked at the hand outstretched to him before taking it and hauling himself up.

-

Seven months. Seven months since Pein had paired Uchiha Itachi with Haruno Sakura and nearly five and a half months since he kissed her. Here he was, running through the forest to their hotel room with an injured kunoichi in his arms, holding on a bit tighter than was professionally necessary. They were on a particularly dangerous mission and Sakura hadn't been able to completely dodge what would have been a fatal attack, had she been hit directly. Itachi didn't bother using the front entrance of the inn; instead he jumped in through their window and laid his partner on the bed gently before making his way to the washroom to get the necessary supplies to clean and dress her injury. Sakura's breathing was shallow and uneven, indicating some damage in her lungs, there was a large, gaping hole in her side, as if a part of her flesh had been torn from her, and several broken bones. He may not have been as proficient in medical jutsu as Sakura, but he had seen her do it enough to mimic her example. After cleaning her wound and stopping the bleeding, Itachi started the real work. He pumped his chakra into her, feeling for the most damaged areas. Doing what he could, he closed the hole in her side, fixed her lungs to a less than perfect state—she could fix it completely when she awoke, for now, this would have to do—and healed the less fatal injuries scattered throughout her person.

Healing took more chakra than he had initially thought and Itachi found himself more than a little fatigued after his healing, not to mention he was still worn and injured from the battle. Just as he was getting up to lay down on the less than comfortable couch, her hand shot out to grab onto his wrist her eyes open in alarm. She had obviously been having a bad dream. Itachi look down at her, eyebrow raised.

"You are awake," he cocked his head to the side slightly.

She promptly let go of his wrist and tiredly rested her arm beside her, looking away. "G-gomen…" she whispered quietly, her voice raw and hoarse. Why _had_she reached out to him? Maybe it was the fact that the rain was beating heavily on against the window, the lightning and thunder unrelenting. Maybe it was because she still felt his chakra inside her, which she hated to admit, was somewhat comforting. Maybe she just didn't want to be alone. Or maybe it was that disturbing dream she had about Sasuke and Itachi both dying at each other's hands. Whatever it was, it had been enough to make her reach out to him. After their kiss, things had settled down between them and they returned to their comfortable partnership. Sakura always knew she still held some kind of attraction to him, physical or not, and in her weakened state, she couldn't muster up the self-control to push that attraction away.

Itachi sensed she didn't want to be alone, and if he was being completely honest with himself, he didn't really want to leave her alone in such an unstable condition, so he sat down beside her bed.

"Gomen," she repeated quietly, "You must be tired, you should go to sleep."

"Hn." Just _what _was that supposed to mean? Was he confirming that he was tired and should go to sleep? Did that mean he was actually _going _to sleep? Seeing as he wasn't leaving, she decided not to question him, her mind too weary to try to understand the mystery that was Itachi.

"What happened?" Sakura's raspy throat managed to croak out.

"You were injured and I took you back to the hotel to fix your wounds."

"Thank you, captain obvious." Despite her current state, she was able to joke around with him and pull off a sarcastic tone, to Itachi's amusement.

"If you were aware, then why did you ask?"

"Well I was hoping for a more detailed explanation, and I was talking about the other shinobi. What happened to them?"

"I dealt the remaining ones."

"Did you … kill them?" She asked almost hesitantly.

A pregnant silence hung over them.

"…No." Itachi knew that at all costs, Sakura would avoid killing anyone and tried to persuade him to do the same, especially when it came to her village.

The corners of Sakura's mouth tilted upwards and her weary jade eyes warmed at his admission. "Thank you."

"They were shinobi of the leaf," Itachi assured himself as much as the girl in front of him that he was _not _going soft, he was simply following the terms of the agreement.

The fight they had gotten caught in was initiated by the leaf nin and according to the agreement, that gave them the right to kill the enemy, but Sakura kept her mouth shut, lest she wished for Itachi to ignore her for the next few days. Her partner could really be rather immature at times and Sakura found it absolutely adorable when he would _pout _by way of silence and ignoring her. Though, she'd never voice her thoughts on the matter.

A loud roar of thunder made itself known and Sakura couldn't help but stiffen noticeably, aggravating her newly closed wounds. She let out a gasp of pain as she felt her skin break where Itachi had just recently patched it up. The blood from her wound bled steadily through the bandages he applied and Sakura gritted her teeth at the pain.

"You have reopened your wounds," Itachi pointed out, making sure to keep the _slightly _worried tone out of his voice, leaving it the cool, even tenor it usually was.

Sakura could only whimper at the growing discomfort that was her wound. Itachi set to work on reclosing her wound causing her to sigh as a wave of cool chakra washed through her, chasing away the raw burning pain. She fell asleep as Itachi worked and he made sure to send an extra jolt through her temple to ensure she would sleep through the storm.

-

After a particularly hard mission, Itachi and Sakura often went to the meadow to meditate and clear their minds so they'd be better prepared for the next assignment they received. They had fallen into this routine and this time was no different.

"Sakura," Itachi's smooth voice broke the easy silence between them.

"Hm?"

"Leader is sending me on a mission with Kisame for the next two weeks."

Sakura couldn't help but feel somewhat disappointed that she wouldn't see him for the next two weeks, but she reassured herself that it was only because she'd never worked with anyone else but Itachi and Kisame so she was reluctant to have to pair with someone else.

"Am I going on a solo mission?"

"No."

"Am going on any missions at all?"

"Yes."

"… I wish you'd just tell me what I need to know without making me ask …That way I won't have to guess what's going through your mind" Sakura shot her partner a pointed look.

Itachi lifted an eyebrow, "What is it you need to know?"

"Hopeless," she muttered with a sigh.

"What was that?"

"Nothing." She was getting used to this senseless _almost-_bickering with Itachi; of course he was above bickering, so what they were doing could not be classified as such. It was becoming nearly as natural as her pointless bickering with Naruto back in Konoha. No. _NO! _She kept repeating to herself. She could not relate her life in Konoha to her life as a missing-nin in the Akatsuki. However, it was coming increasingly difficult to block out such thoughts; she was constantly reminded of something about Konoha nearly every day and she found that she didn't miss Konoha _quite _as much as the previous day. Did that mean that in time, she wouldn't miss Konoha at all? Such a thought frightened the young blossom, but she was certain that the day would never come because she treasured her old life and she would _always _miss her village. She was simply trying to cope with her situation, and this was how she was doing it.

"So am I getting a partner?"

"You are."

Sakura simply stared at him expectantly and he returned her stare with a blank one of his own. But she'd been with him enough to see slight glint of amusement present in his onyx orbs.

She sighed. "Are you going to tell me who it is?"

"Perhaps." He said with a smirk.

"Itachi!" Sakura huffed indignantly, "You insufferable jerk!"

Her apparent irritation with him only caused his smirk to grow. "If you wish to know, I don't believe insulting me would not be the best method to find out."

She went a light Suiton Jutsu towards him, using the pond's water to soak him. Unfortunately for her, Itachi didn't seem to be in a playful mood and dodged her attack effortlessly, but that never stopped her before, so she continued to assault him with similar jutsu. He dodged them all easily and even sent a few of his own at her—so much for not playful. Sakura was able to avoid his as easily as he did hers and soon enough, their playful water fight turned into a full out training session. Several punches and kicks were exchanged, both sporting light injuries. Sakura threw a rain of kunai at her opponent as a distraction and the second he was distracted by them, she switched places with a bunshin and dove into the ground. She waited for her clone to bring him directly above her when she launched herself up and threw a chakra enhanced punch aimed at his face. He managed to flip out of the way to avoid her punch but her fist grazed his chin a fraction of a second before he jumped out of reach. The slight contact was enough to knock his jaw out of place and would definitely leave an angry bruise. He looked to Sakura to find that she was staring disbelievingly at him, which worked to his advantage; as shocked as he was that she had landed that hit on him, he would not let such a thing to break his concentration. Using her lapse of awareness, he darted towards her and they engaged in a taijutsu battle. In a matter of minutes, Itachi had her pinned up against a tree and he knew that their sparring session was over. She was staring up at him, that same look of astonishment still in her eyes.

"I — you—just then—" She stuttered, causing him to raise an eyebrow at her.

"What is it you wish to say?"

"_I landed a hit on you!_"

"You have been able to land several on me for a long time now."

"Yeah, but never like _that_!"

Itachi backed up from her and released her arms, "As I have said before, you have improved. Do not be surprised at your skills."

"Um, thanks." A light tinge of pink stained her cheeks at his sudden compliment. It was a well known fact that the Uchiha did not hand out compliments easily and whenever she got one from him, she was always surprised to have his approval, and maybe, his respect. Forcing her blush down, she turned away, hoping he didn't notice.

Itachi was mildly taken back at his almost unconscious admission. He hadn't been planning to respond to her at all, but it just came out. Such a thing was uncommon for the stoic Uchiha who usually had everything under control. His rare lack of self-control left him disgruntled but, back to his stoic self, he hid his irritation well. What surprised him though, was the rose blush that dusted Sakura's cheeks after his comment and the fact that she turned away in an attempt to hide her blush. He supposed it was to be expected since his comment was rather sudden and she must not have been used to receiving such compliments from criminals, especially him. However, he found himself wishing that maybe there could be another reason why she would hide her blush; something that maybe had to do with him? Sakura's shy voice disrupted his thoughts before he could further scrutinize his actions and hers.

"You are welcome," he responded stoically.

"Come here, I'll reset your jaw and get rid of that bruise."

He did as told silently and walked to where she stood. Sakura placed a warm hand on his jaw and sent her chakra through her hands to numb the pain. She set his jaw easily and worked on healing the ugly purple bruise that blemished his otherwise flawless skin. Itachi found himself thinking about their kiss all those months ago and couldn't help but think that right now would be a great time for another one, with her hand on his face and all. Immediately after the thought entered his mind, he banished it to the back corners of his mind. He should _not _be thinking such things, no matter how perfect the sunset and setting was. During these past two or three weeks, it was getting harder and harder to ignore his attraction towards her and it was times like these that truly tested his self-control. To say that he was disturbed at his thoughts would be an understatement, but he let nothing show on his face as he stared into Sakura's concentrating eyes.

"We should um, get back now. It's getting pretty dark." Sakura backed away somewhat awkwardly when she finished healing him.

"Hn."

"By the way, you still haven't told me who my partner is going to be."

"Deidara."

For a fleeting second, Sakura thought she saw a glint of what she recognized to be…displeasure? Being with Itachi as much as she had been, she was able to decipher most of his 'emotions' from his eyes. But what did he have to be displeased about? Trying to keep things from getting awkward, she decided to act as if she never noticed it in the first place.

"Oh, that sounds fun. Dei-kun is always fun to talk to and it's always interesting with him around."

0-0-0

_Dei-kun?_

The fact that Sakura was on such friendly terms with the blonde nin and giving him such nicknames did not sit well with Itachi. He knew he had long put his attraction to Sakura behind him, but he was very unsettled at the thought nonetheless. She was not as friendly with any of the other members as she was with Deidara, as far as he was concerned. The closest was with Kisame, who she always joked around with, but she had stuck to simply calling him Kisame. Nothing like Kisa-kun; granted that _Kisa-kun _was a rather awkward name, but that was beside the point. No, Itachi was _not _jealous, he was simply thinking of Sakura's efficiency. If he allowed her to get into a personal relationship with the likes of Deidara, she would surely become distracted and her better judgment would be clouded, which would jeopardize her missions. However, if such a thing were to happen, he was certain that Leader would deal with the problem as he saw fit. Their missions were to take top priority and anything less would spell trouble. With that thought in mind, he brought his attention back to the petite kunoichi ranting beside him.

"… I mean, it's not like it's our fault he lost it in the first place. He was being irresponsible and we were just doing our mission. He had the nerve to call me all that he did and expect to walk away unscathed? That guy was incredibly arrogant to a point that it rivaled even _your _arrogance."

Itachi raised an eyebrow at her indirect accusation.

"Are you implying that I am arrogant?"

"I'm not implying, Itachi, I'm straight up _telling _you."

"Arrogance is when one holds an excessively high opinion of their own qualities beyond their tangible ability. I am merely confident in the skills I know I posses."

"Right." Leave it to Itachi to give a dictionary definition when someone was just kidding with him.

"Do you not believe I can support my claim with my ability?" He was ready to defend his pride if need be.

"No, no," Sakura waved her hands in defeat. "Believe me, I _know _you're strong. The whole world does for that matter. I was only kidding." She patted his arm in an attempt to cool him down and she laughed awkwardly.

Itachi tensed at the sudden contact. It was not unnatural for Sakura to do such a thing, seeing as she was an openly affectionate person. She easily returned Tobi's over enthusiastic hugs, had no problem having Kisame's arm around her shoulder when he flirted with her—and sometimes she flirted back if she was feeling playful, she locked her arm around Deidara's arm whenever they went to the town so they wouldn't get separated in the bustle, and she easily acted the part as his wife or mistress several times on their many undercover mission. Such behavior unnatural for a shinobi—a missing nin especially—because usually they kept physical contact to a minimum, being very defensive by nature.

He was more than used to her behavior and shouldn't have been surprised at her actions. But this time, he was caught off guard and didn't know how to react to the sudden contact.

Unable to think of a better response, Itachi gave his signature "Hn."

Sakura must have sensed his discomfort and removed her hand from his arm immediately and changed the topic easily. The return trip was somewhat awkward, but they somehow got through it and made their way back to the base to get some dinner before heading off to their respective chambers.

-

**A/N: **Ummmm… I've been getting a few requests to write a lemon for this in later chapters… but I'm not sure I'd be able to because I'm not that great with that I've never written a lemon and I'm sure that if I tried, I'd be red as a tomato by the end of it. Not to mention that it wouldn't be all that great.  
Sooo I was wondering if maybe someone could write on for me??? I'll definitely give you the credit for it and all that… because I have to agree, having something like that would definitely complete their relationship and the story…. I just don't think I can do it myself... at least, not yet?  
Soo... just let me know if you're interested and maybe send it to me? Don't worry, I'm not in a rush soo yeah there'll be plenty of time. THANKS!  
thanks for reading !

Hope you enjoyed. Reviews are highly appreciated. :D


	9. Chapter 9

**Last Priority**

**Chapter 9**

_Enjoy (:_

_-_

_Previously on Last Priority…_

_She patted his arm in an attempt to cool him down and she laughed awkwardly._

_Itachi tensed at the sudden contact. It was not unnatural for Sakura to do such a thing, seeing as she was an openly affectionate person. She easily returned Tobi's over enthusiastic hugs, had no problem having Kisame's arm around her shoulder when he flirted with her—and sometimes she flirted back if she was feeling playful, she locked her arm around Deidara's arm whenever they went to the town so they wouldn't get separated in the bustle, and she easily acted the part as his wife or mistress several times on their many undercover mission. Such behavior unnatural for a shinobi—a missing nin especially—because usually they kept physical contact to a minimum, being very defensive by nature._

_He was more than used to her behavior and shouldn't have been surprised at her actions. But this time, he was caught off guard and didn't know how to react to the sudden contact. _

_Unable to think of a better response, Itachi gave his signature "Hn."_

_Sakura must have sensed his discomfort and removed her hand from his arm immediately and changed the topic easily. The return trip was somewhat awkward, but they somehow got through it and made their way back to the base to get some dinner before heading off to their respective chambers._

-

"What the hell happened?!" Sakura looked at her partner's mangled body.

"Uh I got carried away, yeah." Deidara coughed up some blood.

She got to work immediately, stripping of the bloody cloak and healing the most fatal wounds. He had three broken ribs, several other broken bones, a ruptured lung, torn muscles, and he had burns all over his body, no doubt from getting caught in his own explosion. The only sounds to be heard were the gentle hum of Sakura's chakra and Deidara's uneven breathing, but steadily recovering. It took several, long, grueling hours and nearly all of Sakura's chakra, but she eventually healed him as good as new.

"Wow Sakura-chan, you're so cool." The Iwa nukenin examined his arms and legs, extending them experimentally.

"Deidara-kun, you were only supposed to get the scroll. I understand if you got into a few fights along the way, but not enough to get you nearly killed! What were you thinking? If I wasn't here you'd be dead by now!" She scolded, despite her chakra depletion and weariness.

"I knew you'd be back to patch me up all good, yeah."

"You're impossible."

"Thanks, yeah. Go take a shower and get some rest, you look horrible."

Once upon a time, Sakura would have taken great offense to that statement, but the vain twelve year old girl was long gone to make room for the strong kunoichi she was now. She knew it was the truth because she had been engaged in her own fights earlier and got dirty from the mud she had been fighting in and she didn't have time to properly wash off. Plus, she had just exhausted the last of her chakra healing Deidara so she knew she was pale and probably had heavy bags under her eyes.

Sakura merely nodded and stumbled to the washroom. She got cleaned up quickly, looking forward to a well deserved rest. As she was stepping out of the tub, she remembered her pack had been burned in a Suiton jutsu in one of her earlier fights. The clothes she was wearing before were torn and burnt in several places, making it unsalvageable. Great, what was she supposed to wear now? She recalled seeing Deidara's pack on the ground beside the bed and she wondered if he'd mind giving her an extra set of clothes. But how was she going to go there and get it? All she had on was her skimpy towel.

"Dei-kun?" She called.

"What do you need, yeah?"

"Can I, um, borrow some clothes?"

Deidara raised an eyebrow, "Yeah sure, but what's wrong with yours?"

"I lost my pack and mine are all burnt and torn."

"Ah, okay then, I'll leave it here by the door then, yeah."

"Thank you!"

Deidara was aware of the fondness he had developed for Sakura over the past few months and wasn't sure how he felt about her wearing his clothes. Unlike Itachi, he wasn't so hell bent on denying his feelings for her and if given the chance, he'd sure like to get closer to her. When he saw her walk out of the washroom clad in _his _slightly oversized clothes, he felt something unfamiliar bubble in his stomach; something that wasn't entirely unpleasant. Is this what the saying _'butterflies in your stomach' _meant? He liked her wearing his clothes, there was something almost endearing in the action that made him feel like he was closer with Sakura than the others, which was a thought that pleased him.

She tugged at the large fitting clothes to make them fit more comfortably on her petite form.

"You're practically drowning in them…yeah." Deidara chuckled from his spot on the bed.

Sakura walked over to the bed to sit beside him. "You aren't _that _much taller than me. If I wore Kisame's clothes, _then _I'd be drowning."

"You got a point there."

Sakura yawned loudly and stretched her arms above her head, mumbling something about sleep. Somehow, Deidara understood her jumbled words and got off the bed for her to lay down on. He tucked her in and placed a soft kiss on her forehead.

"G'night Sakura-chan."

"Mmm…night Dei-kun. You should _*yawn_ get some rest too, if you want your wounds to heal faster."

"Yes ma'am," he mock saluted and chuckled, walking over to the extra futon laid out on the ground. He tucked himself in and soon, sleep overtook his senses.

-

"We're back…yeah. D'ya miss me Sasori-danna?"

Said red-headed ninja huffed in indignation, "The only thing I miss is my quiet break away from you."

"Ouch, that hurt…yeah."

Sakura chuckled at the pair's antics.

"Sakura-san and Deidara-sempai are baack! Tobi missed you two!" The masked ninja glomped onto Deidara, almost knocking them to the ground.

"Ah Tobi! Get off me, yeah!" Tobi did as told, looking down dejectedly before remembering that Sakura had yet to receive her welcome back greeting. Previous rejection forgotten, he gave Sakura a tight bear hug which she returned happily.

"Tobi's been a good boy, Sakura-san."

"Is that so Tobi?"

He nodded enthusiastically before advising Sakura that she go clean up.

"I'll just wash your clothes and put them on your bed, Deidara. Thanks again."

"Nah, you can keep 'em…yeah."

Sakura smiled and nodded in thanks as she made her way to her room, ready to wash off the accumulated dirt and grime from their travel. She seemed to be getting a lot of men's clothes, not that she was complaining; they were comfortable after all. Maybe she'd need to buy some for herself, instead of stealing everyone else's.

-

"We are nearing the destination, mask your chakra," Itachi's soft voice carried.

Sakura nodded silently and did as told. She didn't feel any presences other than theirs, but their target could easily have hidden their chakra. Itachi stopped abruptly, causing her to look up questioningly at her partner.

"Hide in the bushes," his hushed voice commanded.

If she were back in Konoha and her team had told her to hide, she would have assumed that they were simply trying to protect her—which she really didn't like—or they didn't think she was strong enough to handle whatever it was they sensed. However, being Itachi, she knew he had his reasons and didn't underestimate her, nor did he find the need to protect her, so she did as told without protest.

Itachi made it about a hundred meters before he found their target…dead. There was blood everywhere; he was murdered and he obviously struggled, otherwise it would have been a clean kill. He felt a presence hiding in a tree, but he sensed they were coming out to show themselves, so he waited, even though he already knew who it was.

"Itachi," a figure hidden in the nearby trees nearly growled.

"Sasuke," his brother regarded him.

"I've gotten stronger, I'll kill you. I'll make you pay for taking everything I had!" He engaged his brother in battle almost immediately, activating his sharingan to keep up with the smooth easy movements of his aniki. A kick here, a punch there and suddenly Sasuke was pinned to a tree.

"You lack hatred, foolish brother." Itachi looked past his little brother to see Sakura staring at them, speechless. _'Perfect.'_

Sakura looked back and forth between the brothers, wide-eyed. Was she supposed to help her partner, or her ex-teammate and past love interest? She was torn between the two, unsure of what to do, so she just stood there, gaping. This was _not _the way she'd intended Sasuke-kun to find out. Actually, she wished he'd never have to find out, but it was just naïve to truly believe it would never happen. He looked the same, for the most part, from what she remembered in their genin days. He still had ridiculously spiky midnight hair, although it was a bit longer than before. He grew several inches and now stood almost as tall as Itachi. Even though he had already killed Orochimaru and no longer worked for/alongside him, he still wore the sound outfit, complete with the purple belt tied into a bow in the back. His voice was slightly deeper, sounding so much like Itachi. _What the hell? _Why was she comparing him to Itachi? She was pulled from her thoughts at the sound of high pitched screeching and chirping, signaling the chidori was coming to life.

Itachi smirked. "I don't think my partner would appreciate having to fix the gaping hole you leave with that arm of yours, otouto."

The mention of a partner reminded Sasuke that he hadn't seen his older brother's blue companion yet. His words registered then. _'A medic?' _he wondered. Either Kisame learned some new skills or Itachi got a new partner.

"Like I care what your partner would or wouldn't appreciate," he snarled at his older brother.

"Oh, but I think you do. Sasuke, meet my partner, _Haruno Sakura._" He motioned for his brother to look behind him.

Sasuke's eyes widened at the mention of the little girl he'd remembered to be obsessed with him. At the time, he was thankful for her affection, to know that someone still cared. He had fully intended to return after killing Itachi, hopefully to make her his bride and begin restoring his clan. However, at the mention of her being partners in crime with his hated Aniki, he couldn't help but gape disbelievingly at the pink-haired kunoichi that stood before them. Was this the same girl who cried as she confessed her love to him? The one who'd always stood behind them, never really able to do much for herself?

Sakura forced her face to take on an emotional mask, despite her inner dilemma; Itachi however, saw right through it and cast a pointed look at his partner, telling her this was no time to be questioning her choices.

"No…NO! This is an illusion by your stupid Mangekyou, Aniki! Sakura is in Konoha! Don't fuck with me!" Once again, his chidori roared and he swung at Itachi, only to find his older brother was now standing beside his 'partner'. Infuriated, he charged at the Mangekyou wielder once more.

"Sasuke-kun, please stop," Sakura called out meekly. "Itachi is … my partner, so I can't just stand by. I'm sorry." She stared at the ground, afraid to look him in the eye; even though he didn't posses the Mangekyou Sharingan, the pure hatred she knew she'd see in his eyes was sure to kill her.

"No Sakura… Why? Why the hell are you working with this bastard?! He killed my entire clan! WHY?!" His rage was now redirected to Sakura, red eyes glowing with rage. "I'll kill you…I'LL KILL YOU BOTH!"

He dashed toward Sakura with the intention of doing just what he said; kill her. She jumped away easily, but Sasuke saw it coming. He swung his chidori in the direction she moved to, just barely missing her. She managed to twist away, jumping to a safe distance.

"Sasuke-kun, please don't do this," she pleaded meekly.

"Tch, how the hell did someone like you make in to the Akatsuki? You belong in the village, where someone can protect you. What are you doing here?"

Previous memories that she'd long tried to forget resurfaced. When she was young and weak, Kakashi, Naruto, and Sasuke always had to save her. Every time came rushing back to her; every mission in which she was nothing but dead weight. That's obviously what Sasuke thought she was still like.

"I'm not weak Sasuke," she bit out with barely repressed anger lacing her voice, making sure to leave out the affectionate 'kun'. "Unlike you, I was able to become stronger without betraying everyone."

"Shut up…shut UP! You have no idea what I've been through!"

"No, I guess not, but whose fault is that, hm Sasuke-_kun_?"

Sasuke chose not to answer that and ran after her. He didn't know of Sakura's full capabilities so she decided to use that to her advantage. She easily dodged most his attacks and waited for an opportunity to let her full capacity out, which proved to be rather difficult. She may have gotten stronger, but that didn't make Sasuke any weaker and he had the advantage of the sharingan so he was able to dodge each punch, kick, and jutsu she threw at him. They continued their dance for a short while longer while Itachi watched, examining each and every move of his partner and weak otouto.

"Concentrate Sakura," Itachi's deep voice carried.

Sasuke's eyes widened and lost his footing for half a second. Itachi never gave her pointers on her fighting when she was in a _real _fight; he only did that when they were training. She knew that he'd spoken up this time to provide her with a lack of awareness on Sasuke's part, and that's all she needed. Sakura took the opportunity to send a chakra laced punch straight into his abdomen, sending him flying nearly 30 meter's back. She appeared behind him and kicked him back the way he came from, straight into a rock. He was able to slightly protect himself from her second, more anticipated kick by covering himself in a layer of chakra. He got up and steadied himself, looking wide-eyed at Sakura before brushing his clothes off and replacing his blank mask. She took pride in those few moments of shock on his face. Sasuke decided to really get serious and he made the seals necessary for a summon. Sakura caught on and mimicked his actions. In a puff of smoke, Sasuke was riding atop a large snake and Sakura was standing on the head of her chosen animal summon, a black wolf.

Sasuke eyed Sakura and her animal summons warily, _'When the hell did she learn to do that?'_

"What do you want, Sasuke? I was just about to have dinner," Manda hissed. Sasuke chose not to answer, but the massive snake expected it.

"I'm sorry to call on you so suddenly, Marise-chan," Sakura called as she bent down to pat her summon's head.

"It's fine, Sakura-chan. What is it you need?"

"I need your help in battle."

The giant wolf merely nodded her head minutely as she growled at the snake in front of her.

"Hn, Marise. It's been a while," Manda hissed

"Not long enough, Manda." she barked back.

Marise let out a howl before engaging in battle. Each pair became one with their summons as they bit, clutched, growled, and hissed at each other. Sakura sported several burns, Marise had a few bites scattered along her body but was fine otherwise, Sasuke and Manda weren't much better off. Sakura was so concentrated on staying in sync and balanced on Marise while maneuvering them both out of harm's way that she didn't sense the few snakes Sasuke sent to sneak up behind her. Next thing she knew, Itachi was suddenly behind her.

"I'm afraid I cannot allow you to kill her otuoto; she is our only medic after all." She felt, more than heard, his deep tenor vibrate behind her.

The implication of Itachi's words hit her hard. She was their medic, that's why he protected her and was being nice to her. She could heal his eyes and he wouldn't risk losing something like that. She must have been delusional to believe that Itachi was capable making friends or being nice just because. She didn't have much time to mull this over though, for Sasuke ran straight at them, chidori crackling loudly

What did she expect, some kind of love confession ? Surely not, there was no other reason she was here anyway.

She looked up and the look in his eye said it was time to leave; their mission was finished and there was no reason to stay any longer. Sure, Sasuke could hold up against one Akatsuki member, but it would be fairly difficult to keep up with _two _of them, especially one being Itachi, and the fact that he was already fairly worn out. Sakura patted Marise's head in thanks before releasing the summoning jutsu and she disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Before he got any time to think, Sakura appeared behind him and whispered, "I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun." Then she swung a punch at him; he jumped out of the way and it only grazed his leg, breaking only one bone, but Itachi saw the direction of his movement and used a Doton jutsu to throw him into the ground and hold him there.

"Become stronger, you lack hate, Sasuke. Maybe then, we will meet again." Those were the last words Sasuke heard before he passed out.

-

Itachi and Sakura reported the mission and Pein was not pleased, to say the least. They were stuck missionless and in training for the next few days while Leader cooled off and decided they'd suffered enough

O-o-O-o

Sakura stood behind the chair to heal the large wound on the back of Itachi's shoulder. She really wished he wouldn't injure himself so much; she was using up a lot of chakra healing him all the time and it was getting rather exhausting. That and the fact that every time he was injured, she'd have to touch him to heal him. Sure that sounded immature, but really, just touching him became a test of her self control. Sometimes the lightest brush of their arms sent shivers up and down her spine, reminding her of their toe-curling kiss all those months ago. She was also worried about him. One of these days, she knew he'd get so injured that she may not be able to heal him. Shaking herself inwardly, she refused to think about such matters that were so unlikely.

"How'd you do this to yourself this time?" She tried to make conversation to lift the tense atmosphere surrounding them.

"You make it sound as if I tried to injure myself."

"No, of course not. It's just that you get injured so often that it makes me wonder what you do when you're alone."

"I was training."

"…That's some pretty intense training to have gotten something like this." 'This' being the large cut that seemed to be left behind by some kind of weapon.

"I was using bunshins."

"This is a pretty clean cut, what happened?"

"I was training," he repeated. For someone who supposedly didn't like repeating himself, he seemed to do that a lot when he was giving his characteristically vague answers.

"You said that."

"Then there is no need to ask again."

Sakura sighed. Typical. If he didn't want to give any answers, nothing in the world would be able to get those answers from him. She finished her work in silence, but it was no longer the comfortable silence they used to share. Things had been getting increasingly tense between the two and maybe now, it was time to get some answers.

She walked to the front of the chair and stood in front of him.

"Itachi, what's wrong…"

"I can assure you that noth—"

"With us?" She knelt down with her legs tucked under her, putting her hands on top of his which were on his knees.

Itachi stiffened noticeably at the contact and her words.

"I … it's weird, because I know I shouldn't _feel _for a criminal, or an Akatsuki no less, but … I do."

"What are you saying Sakura," he said somewhat strained.

"I don't know, but what I do know is that this isn't one sided, Itachi."

"If you're implying that—" he was cut off with a shake of her head.

"I've seen you interact with other women Itachi. It's different with me, I can feel it. I can see it in your eyes sometimes too…and maybe, it's not all that bad, you know? Maybe it's time to stop ignoring it. Maybe we should give it a try. I don't understand how far this goes for you; it might just be physical attraction for all I know, maybe not. But whatever it is, it hasn't been going away; it's been getting worse for us both. So if ignoring it didn't work, then maybe we should try the opposite." Sakura finally raised her head to look into his crimson eyes.

Itachi seemed unfazed by her confession and merely stared back at her.

After a long moment of simply staring at each other under the moonlight, Sakura sighed. Maybe this was a mistake. It was probably just her imagination when she thought he could possibly feel anything towards her.

"Never mind, maybe I was wrong. I guess you really are just the cold killer everyone believes. Sorry to waste your time."

Just as she was about to get up from her spot in front of him, he grabbed her wrist and held her there. She stared at him wide-eyed, waiting for him to talk.

"You…are different. Your eyes hold the innocence of a child, although you are far from it and being a shinobi, you know the cruelties of the world. Your eyes hold such trust in me although I am a criminal; I could kill you, I could leave you on the battlefield alone, why do you trust me so? You act as though you want to be _friends _with me, with us, with the organization. We are criminals as you are, might I remind you. Why do you wish to form bonds with us?"

"I trust you because you're my partner, if I didn't trust you completely, we'd never have a functioning partnership. I know you wouldn't do any of that. And I _do _want to be friends with everyone. Your Leader—"

"He's your leader too."

"Fine, _our _leader took everything from me, so isn't it natural to want to start over and try again? I want to be friends, Itachi if only you'd let me."

Itachi's eyes narrowed. "Why? You know what I've done, what I'm capable of doing, so why bother?"

Sakura offered him a knowing smile. "It's weird isn't it, what we shinobi do. We follow the orders of our Leader, whoever it may be, without question. How do we know these missions are for the best anyway? "

Sakura took on of Itachi's hands and laced her fingers with his. He waited silently for her to answer his question as he stared at her interlocking hands questioningly. For some reason, he liked this contact and didn't have the sudden desire to snatch his hand from hers as he once thought he would.

"Tsunade-shishou told me there was more to the Uchiha massacre than we know of." He simply raised an eyebrow and waited for her to elaborate. "What exactly happened, Itachi?"

His eyes travelled to the window, recalling bitter memories of his distant past. Just how much did this girl know? "I killed my clan."

"I _know_, but why?"

"To test my capacity."

"We both know that's not true."

Itachi sighed and bowed his head, staring at her pleading emerald orbs. There was no point trying to avoid it since it didn't seem she'd let the subject drop so easily.

"It is a long story."

"Then give me the short version." Nope, definitely not letting it drop.

"It was a mission."

"…Wow, that's short alright. You don't really feel like telling me the reason?"

Itachi merely shook his head in response.

"You were thrown out of Konoha and labeled a missing nin because of something you were ordered to do?! So that's what Tsunade-shishou meant. You're not a completely bad person Itachi. No one is all bad, just like no one is all good. You need to give yourself a chance to be happy."

"My crime of murdering my clan may not have been my decision, but I take full responsibility for my actions. Do not forget that to survive as a missing nin I committed many crimes, murdered innocents and my time at the Akatsuki was enough to for the Hokage to hold ransom for my death. I am not a falsely accused criminal as you seem to think, Sakura."

"But you only did those things because you had no choice!"

Itachi could see the gleam of unshed tears in her emerald eyes. Was she crying for him? She was going to cry for something that had nothing to do with her. No one had ever sympathized for him because he didn't want anyone's pity, but her tears did not anger him, no, the complete opposite actually. They made him want to reach out and touch her face, tell her not to cry for him.

"There is always a choice."

Itachi bent down and placed a soft, chaste kiss on her lips. Sakura's hands tightened around his as he brought his hand to her chin and tilted her face up to him. He lingered there for a few seconds, their lips almost touching, only a hairsbreadth away.

"Do not cry for me, Sakura. I carried out my mission and have no regrets," he whispered gently, his warm breath fanning her blushing face. When he finally pulled back, what he saw in her eyes made his heart beat a slightly faster than normal. Such a feeling was new to the stoic Uchiha, but this girl had been showing him many things he was unaware of before. Her eyes held such raw emotion and affection towards him; he didn't know how to react to such a thing, seeing as how he was never faced with this situation before. Her round eyes encouraged him to close the distance between them. He captured her lips in his, pulling her closer to him to sit in the space between his legs. She knelt up to meet him as their lips meshed together. Itachi nibbled softly on her lower lip before tracing his tongue along the length of it, asking for entrance. She opened her mouth for him shyly and allowed him to rediscover the recesses of her mouth. Their tongues danced a playful dance as they explored each other all over again. Sakura let his hand free to wrap her arms around his neck. Itachi in turn, placed a hand on the small of her back, pulling her closer, while the other snaked its way through her soft strawberry locks. Their kiss soon grew fiery and passionate, tongues and teeth clashing. Each was determined to show the other what they'd been feeling the past few months. They finally broke away, panting for breath.

"What…does this make us?" Sakura asked between her breaths.

"I am not my brother Sakura."

Her face twisted into an expression of complete hurt, taking great offense to his six words. "You think that's why I…I know you're not Sasuke, it never once crossed my mind that you were replacing your brother. In his time in Konoha, he did nothing but push me away. You think I'd want you to be that person for me; to constantly hurt me?"

Itachi sighed as he took her hand in his. "I cannot give you the relationship you search for. I cannot promise to love you wholly and unconditionally, to tell you of my love for you every night and every morning. I cannot promise you a family either. I will not shower you with gifts, nor will I compliment you every minute of every day. I cannot promise you that I will not hurt you, but should I do such a thing, I _can _promise you that it is not my intention. I will give you what I can, nothing more."

The thought of Itachi doing any of the aforementioned things made Sakura giggle softly, a pleasing sound to the Uchiha's ears.

"I think I can live with that."

Their lips found each other again as Itachi stood up, taking Sakura with him, and maneuvered them both to the bed. Her knees buckled at the edge of the bed and she fell down with a soft 'oof', which Itachi found very endearing. He followed her soon after and his lips trailed butterfly kisses down the side of her neck. He looked at her, almost as if asking permission; she nodded in reply, catching his lips with hers once more. His hands roamed the sides of her body, memorizing every perfect curve and dip. Itachi resumed his exploration with his mouth, gently nibbling on her earlobe, making his way down her neck, suckling every so often. Sakura stiffened suddenly, remembering every 'special' mission she had been given as a Konoha ninja; the type of missions only given to kunoichi, using their body as a weapon. She recalled every obligatory seduction she'd made; the disturbing feeling of a stranger's hand roaming her body; the dirty feeling after her mission was over. But she reminded herself that this was not a mission, not a stranger and pervert trying to get in her pants as payment, this wasn't obligatory. She _wanted _this, didn't she? She reminded herself that this was Itachi, the man she had learned wasn't the cold-blooded man she was taught in her genin days. She _trusted _him. Before she could convince herself further, the man above her stopped his ministrations and simply rested his head in the crook of her neck. Itachi seemed to notice her discomfort just lay there for a few silent moments.

"…Itachi?"

He rolled off her and lay down beside her, taking her into his arms wordlessly.

"What's…the matter?"

"You are not ready."

"I—"

"I understand. There is no need to explain. There is no pressure on you, Sakura." Itachi was a lot or things, but he was never the type to push himself on a woman; this time was not different.

Sakura was speechless for a long time, simply staring into his chest as Itachi ran his through her strawberry locks. Finally breaking out of her daze, she snuggled closer to his warmth and wrapped her arms around him.

"And you wonder why I trust you so much," she mumbled into his chest.

A miniscule twitch of his lips—an almost smile—was his only response.

"You aren't going to regret this are you? You won't brush it off this time?"

"And what exactly is _this_?"

"Whatever we can make it."

"Hn."

"I'm taking that as a no."

"Get some rest, Sakura." This time, that miniscule upturn of his lips wasn't quite as miniscule as he placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.

**A/N: **LOL! Tricked you didn't I? You thought I was going to make that a lemon! HAHAH NAAT! Lol well it was hard enough writing that, I can't imagine going any further -_-'

but we'll see. I've been getting a few responses to my previous request and I want to thank everyone so much. I'll add it in soon enough :D

I don't think I'm going to change the rating since nothing _really _happened and I didn't really write anything worthy of a mature rating.

For some reason, this chapter doesn't really… idk, I don't like it. But it's been a while-ish since I've updated so I thought I'd just put it up. I don't really know how to fix it anyway. So yeah

Thanks for reading

Hope you enjoyed. Reviews are highly appreciated ! :D


	10. Chapter 10

Last Priority

Chapter 10

_Enjoy (:_

_-_

_Previously on Last Priority…_

"_I understand. There is no need to explain. There is no pressure on you, Sakura." Itachi was a lot of things, but he was never the type to push himself on a woman; this time was no different._

_Sakura was speechless for a long time, simply staring into his chest as Itachi ran his through her strawberry locks. Finally breaking out of her daze, she snuggled closer to his warmth and wrapped her arms around him._

"_And you wonder why I trust you so much," she mumbled into his chest._

_A miniscule twitch of his lips—an almost smile—was his only response._

"_You aren't going to regret this are you? You won't brush it off this time?"_

"_And what exactly is this?"_

"_Whatever we can make it."_

"_Hn."_

"_I'm taking that as a no."_

"_Get some rest, Sakura." This time, that miniscule upturn of his lips wasn't quite as miniscule as he placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. _

-

"Sakura-san is back! Are you feeling well? You don't look so good, Sakura-san! What's the matter? Was your mission unsuccessful?" Tobi's overenthusiastic voice chimed out as she walked through the door, bombarding her with questions when all she wanted to do was lie down and sleep for the next few days.

"I'm fine Tobi, the mission was a success," she regarded him tiredly.

"Tobi thinks you look tired, maybe you should go rest."

"I think I'll do that, thanks Tobi."

"I will report to Leader," Itachi's deep voice bellowed behind her, giving her permission to sleep.

She simply nodded at him and made her way into the kitchen where Deidara and Sasori sat.

"Haruno-san," Sasori nodded in greeting, "It's good to see you well."

Sakura nodded back, "Thanks, Sasori-san, you too."

"How was the mission, yeah?" Deidara inquired.

"It went well. I'm pretty tired though, so I'm going to go get some rest."

"'Kay, feel better, yeah."

Sakura trudged to her room, all but dragging her feet the entire way.

"Haruno-san's birthday is fast approaching." The red-headed nukenin informed his partner as soon as she was out of hearing range.

"Yeah? Maybe we should throw her a party."

"Sakura-san's birthday? Tobi agrees with Deidara-senpai, we should have a party." Tobi bounced into the kitchen.

"I would not advise that," Itachi deadpanned as he strode through, on his way to Pein's office.

"Just because you don't like parties, yeah." Deidara grumbled.

"Nonsense, Itachi-san, we'll just make sure the party is _AMAZING_!" By now, Tobi was waving his arms in the air enthusiastically.

"Suit yourselves." With that, he walked out of the kitchen. Sparing them another glance, he left them to plan the party he was sure Sakura wouldn't like to have.

"Why do you suppose Itachi said Sakura-san wouldn't like a party?" Sasori's rational mind pondered aloud.

"He's probably just jealous we don't throw him parties, yeah."

"Unlikely."

"Sakura-san will have fun!!" Tobi jumped in the air.

"Very well," Sasori gave in and they started planning a surprise party for a certain pink-haired medic nin.

-

Sakura groaned as the sun peaked over the horizon and shone its way through the window, effectively waking her up. Today was the day; four years ago today, she had found her parents' bloody bodies on the ground. Yup, you guessed it, her birthday. She hadn't been on any missions for the past two weeks and she wanted to keep it that way for at least another day. Sakura wanted nothing more than to curl up in her bed and just wait for the day to pass. However, much to her silent consternation, she heard a loud knock from the other side of her door. She recognized the chakra signature as Deidara's and called out, giving him permission to enter.

"Hey Sakura." He closed the door behind him and crossed the between them. "Leader left late last night, yeah. He told me to tell you you're going on a mission today."

Great, so much for her day in bed.

Sakura rubbed her eyes with a sigh and sat up in her bed. "What type is it?"

"Undercover, yeah. You'll be acting as the daughter of the head of an influential company, and you're meeting with one of the higher-ups in some big company. It's important you make a good impression for the organization, so put on your best clothes, yeah."

Sakura sighed and got out of bed, "Are you coming with me?"

"Of course; weak, defenseless hime-chan (that would be you) can't be walking the dangerous streets by herself can she, yeah?" Deidara winked.

She rolled her eyes, "No, of course not."

Sakura put on her best clothes and met Deidara in the living room before making their way to their destinations, the town of Doyoma. The meeting was to take place in a fancy, expensive hotel, so they made their way into the flashy banquet hall.

"Isn't this…rather much for just a meeting?" She looked up at her companion.

"I guess, but whatever the rich do is up to them, yeah." He gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze before they walked into the giant room.

"SURPRISE!"

Sakura was taken back at the beautifully decorated room before her, filled with people—surely everyone's bunshins again—and she cried. She passed them off as tears of joy, but inside, she was reliving her fifteenth birthday all over again.

"Oh NO!! Sakura-san's crying! Please don't cry, Tobi is a good boy!" The masked nin ran over to Sakura and gave her a big hug after pressing his present into her arms.

"I'm happy, really. Thank you Tobi, everyone. I've never gotten a surprise party before." She wiped her tears and turned to her friends. Everyone offered their greetings and kind words as the day wore on and merged into night. Sakura searched throughout the entire banquet hall but she found no sign of Itachi. Why wasn't he there? Did he forget? These questions ran through her head all day, even as she talked with the other members and opened their presents.

"Hey blossom, having a good time?" Kisame called out.

"Yeah, thanks. I thought you were on a mission?"

"No way would I miss a party blossom," he winked. "Happy birthday." He gave her a rectangular box, wrapped in bright gold wrapping paper. "Open it."

Sakura nodded. "Thank you." Sakura took her time to unravel the beautiful wrapping and gasped at what she saw inside. "Kisame…" She whispered. It was a book of medical jutsu. He couldn't have possibly known that Tsunade had presented her with the exact same book when she made ANBU.

The blue nin smiled sheepishly.

"Thank you so much." Sakura hugged his midsection tightly and buried her face in his chest. Kisame returned the embrace somewhat awkwardly, and then settled for placing a hand on her shoulder and ruffling her hair.

"No problem, blossom."

Sakura finally let go and they talked and caught up, before she excused herself, no doubt to search for Itachi, Kisame assumed.

Finally giving up on Itachi, Sakura sighed and left the room, taking a seat on one of the sofa's in the hallway.

"You okay, yeah?" Deidara followed soon after.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks again, Deidara."

"You're not fooling anyone you know," he said in a low voice. The blonde nin left out his signature 'yeah', indicating the seriousness of the conversation.

"What do you mean?" Sakura acted clueless.

He gathered her up into his arms, as he apologized for throwing her the party. "I don't know what happened on your birthday before, but I'm sorry we brought it up."

Sakura sniffled, trying with all her might to hold back the tears threatening to surface. Deidara pulled back after some time and place a chaste kiss on Sakura's cheek.

"Every girl should be kissed on her birthday, yeah?"

Sakura nodded sagely and thanked him again. "I'm getting really tired—"

"I understand. I'll take you back to head quarters, yeah."

She shook her head. "No, stay here and enjoy the party."

"What's the use of having a party if the birthday girl isn't there?"

"There was a lot of sake left last time I checked, wouldn't want that to go to waste now, would we?"

Deidara laughed companionably, "No, we wouldn't. But it's no trouble, I'll take you back."

Once again, Sakura shook her head, "Really, I can take care of myself."

Sensing that she wanted to be alone, Deidara let her go with a final hug and grudgingly made his way back to the room.

As soon as Sakura entered her room, she changed into a set of Itachi's clothes and collapsed in her bed. Not long after laying down, there came a knock on her door but she couldn't find the chakra signature. _'Itachi,' _her inner self informed.

He was the only one that kept his chakra completely concealed around the base. She trudged to the door and opened it for him, before collapsing once more on her bed. Itachi let himself in and closed the door behind him before following after her, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Happy birthday, Sakura," his quiet tenor penetrated the eerie silence of the dark, moonlit room.

Sakura pulled herself up into a sitting position to face him. She nodded in thanks, not bothering to force a smile. He knew she wasn't happy and she didn't have the energy to fake it. She felt something slip into her fingers and found that Itachi had brought her a present. She opened it carefully, the contents of the present causing tears to form in her eyes. "Itachi…how?" In her trembling hands was the framed picture of team seven she had on her bedside table, back in Konoha. The sharingan user didn't answer; he simply stared softly into her emerald eyes. She threw arms around him and hugged him tightly; Itachi pulled her onto his lap and placed a soft kiss on her temple.

"Thank you, Itachi," came her muffled voice, shaking with unshed tears.

"You are welcome." He pulled away and tucked her into the bed before climbing in beside her, resuming his spot in her arms.

"Cry, Sakura," he whispered, "I will not think any less of you."

She shook her head profusely, refusing to let any tears to fall from her swollen eyes

"You do not need to be strong now, so cry Sakura; no one else is here," he whispered into her hair.

That night in the cave, she held back her tears, not letting a single drop fall from her eyes, but this time, she couldn't stop them from falling. She broke her silent vow all those months ago and let the tears stream free from their confines.

Itachi held her close as she cried and eventually, she cried herself to sleep, Itachi following soon after.

-

Itachi had been gone for nearly two months on a solo mission and Sakura was starting to get worried. She had her own mission to do, but she couldn't help but wonder what was taking him so long. She absentmindedly dodged a few punches, and few jutsu here and there as her mind went over every possibility. Her mission wasn't a particularly difficult one so she effortlessly knocked out the guards to get the package.

Upon entering the hotel building, Sakura noticed a faint chakra signature in her room but she couldn't quite figure out what it felt like. It was similar to looking into a large body of water; she knew she felt _something, _but it was so hazy, she couldn't quite figure it out. She opened her door without a sound and threw a kunai at the unknown presence, only to have it thrown right back at her. It landed right beside her head and the figure moved in closer. Only then did she recognize who it was.

"Itachi!" Sakura rushed forward and glomped on him. He caught her easily and returned her enthusiastic embrace. "I was so worried about you."

He led them to sit on the bed as he simply stared into the emerald eyes he'd missed, not that he'd ever openly admit such a thing. "I can assure you, I am fine."

"Kisame said that your mission wasn't mandatory and Leader didn't really expect you to accept, so why did you?" She looked up at him with questioning eyes.

Itachi didn't speak for a long time and Sakura wondered if he heard her. Finally, he leaned close to her ear and said in a dangerously low voice, "To control these feelings I have for you."

Sakura's eyes shot wide open. She knew it wasn't intended to sound _so damn sexy, _just slightly teasing,but damn, was it ever. "A-and?" she squeaked.

He placed soft kisses along the side of her neck before moving on to nibble on her ear. "What do you think?" He whispered, teasingly.

Sakura whimpered and blushed like a tomato. Itachi smirked and pulled away. He enjoyed teasing her this way and it was something he'd missed over the past two months. He knew she was nowhere near ready to do anything of that nature and he'd _never _do anything to hurt her, especially not like this, but it was fun to watch her squirm nonetheless.

"U-um…I found some old books and…" _damn, why'd he have to look at her like that?! It was distracting! _"…and I found something about the sharingan." He sobered up somewhat and looked at her with his usual cool gaze. "If you're not too tired, I can try to fix it again."

Itachi nodded as he closed his eyes and seconds later, he felt her warm chakra coursing through his eyes. Sakura worked in silent concentration and hours later, was proud to say that she had finally repaired his eyes back to their normal state; perfect vision, of course, just like the rest of him. Sakura nearly rolled her eyes at the thought.

"All right, Itachi, I'm done. You can open them now."

Itachi opened his eyes slowly and blinked a few times. Even though the room was dimly lit by the glowing embers of the setting sun, his entire world seemed to have brightened as he took in his surroundings. His eyes finally rested on the beautiful pink-haired kunoichi sitting directly in front of him and he lifted a hand to her face, examining with apparent wonder in his eyes. His hand travelled to her strawberry tresses and he played with a lock of her hair. His eyes remained glued to hers. Itachi had always been drawn to her eyes, but now they seemed to have a different light behind them, making them brighter than he remembered.

"You are beautiful," he said in his usual monotone voice as he absentmindedly ran his fingers through her hair.

Sakura blushed at his admission and tried looked away, but his hand held her steadily, facing him. Itachi leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on her lips, nudging her for a response. She caught on quickly and reciprocated his advances as she slipped her hands around his neck. Oh, how she had missed this, missed _him. _Suddenly, she felt a familiar but vague chakra signature, drawing rapidly towards them. Apparently, Itachi felt it too as they both pulled away and the soft Itachi was gone in a second, taking on his usual cool and calm demeanor; her soft, sweet, slightly teasing Itachi was gone for the time being. If it wasn't for the gravity of the situation, Sakura would have been enraged that they had to be interrupted at a time like this, but there was no mistaking it, that chakra signature was none other than Naruto, and probably a few others with him; Konoha was not foolish enough to let him come alone. To say that she was worried would have been a _slight _understatement [sarcastic]; she was downright panicking. Were they here for her? Did they even know she was here; if they did, _how _did they know? What did they want? Itachi must have felt her inner fright since he gave her hand a light, reassuring squeeze before standing up and facing the direction of the approaching threat. Silently, they went out to meet them halfway after sensing that they were the targets in the chase. Sakura walked slightly behind her partner, scared that they might try to take her back by force. She knew that Itachi was tired from the long travel and even longer mission, and she was mentally exhausted between worrying about him and thinking constantly of her Konoha friends. If Naruto were to take on his fox form and the other ninja with him went at them seriously, she wasn't sure she'd get away safely this time.

Itachi stopped walking and waited silently for the pending confrontation. Not long after, Naruto stepped out a few yards in front of them, looking a little worse for wear. He must have been worried about her and Sasuke, now missing half of his original team and family. Kakashi, Sai, Yamato, Genma, and a few others she didn't recognize stood around him; she wouldn't be surprised if there were ANBU littered around them in case things got messy; Konoha was pulling out all the stops. Itachi may have been able to hold off against such powerful opponents, maybe getting a few injuries, had he been at full strength, but though he showed no such signs, she knew he was tired and not in ideal fighting conditions. She was not feeling much better and Itachi would not have been able to fight for the both of them.

"Sakura-chan," Naruto's voice echoed strong and firm, "We've come for you." His voice was steady, but his eyes betrayed him. They held such worry, concern, and most of all, hurt.

"Come for me?" Her voice on the other hand, wavered slightly.

"If you come quietly, we can avoid unnecessary violence," she only half heard Kakashi's calm offer. Her mind was focused on the quickest and most efficient plan to get them out in one piece. She knew Itachi was probably doing the same thing and he'd get a much better plan faster, but she couldn't help it.

"She will do no such thing," her partner answered for her.

Sai and Yamato said their part to try and convince her, but it didn't work and soon enough, the battle started. She figured it would be easier to take out the unfamiliar ones so she wouldn't have to hold back quite as much. She trusted Itachi would think of the same thing and deal with the others. The battle waged on and the last thing Sakura saw was the ground before her sight blacked out and she was knocked unconscious.

-

Itachi was not in a good condition to fight and it showed. He wasn't keeping up with the Kakashi, Yamato, Genma, and a few others as well as he should have been. They were meeting him hit for hit and he was already starting to feel exhausted. He'd taken out a few ANBU his Mangekyou Sharingan and a few others with his infamous Amaterasu. However, he wasn't having as much luck with his current opponents. His quick eyesight caught a pink blur flying nearly three yards across the field as Sakura was knocked out.

_Shit._

He already had his hands full and he couldn't get over there and get her. Things were not looking good. His opponents started to retreat but even in his weakened state, he was still faster than them. Itachi reached Sakura's captors and trapped them in Tsukuyomi but by then, backup arrived and eventually got away with Sakura.

_Fuck._

He was downright exhausted and couldn't fight, chase after them, hell, he was having a hard time just staying upright. As hard a decision as it was to make, he knew he'd just get himself killed or worse if he went after her. Sending his sincerest apologies to his teammate, he turned around and made his way to _her _hotel room. He reported what had just happened via holographic projection and was instructed not to return until he got her back, plain and simple. Had he been anyone else, he'd have said 'duuhh…' but he was above that. Who'd have thought Uchiha Itachi would be _worried _about anyone? He may not admit it, but the signs were clear; he blamed himself, thought about what they _could _do to her, what they probably _were _doing to her, etc. But what troubled him most was that she probably _wanted _to stay there. He'd never failed a mission before and he really didn't want to start now, but could he take her away from her home if she really wanted to stay there? Now there was a plausible reason for her to stay there without having her best friend killed and Itachi wasn't sure if he wanted to be the one to take that away from her. He chided himself for his weakness as he finally allowed sleep to take him, dreaming of Sakura.

-

Sakura woke up to find that her cheek was pressed painfully against something rough; the ground perhaps? She could hear people speaking in soft, muted tones. She soon found that her hands and feet were bound with chakra enhanced chains. Great. Sakura recalled something about Konoha, Naruto and—oh _shit. _ She was captured! The first thing that crossed her mind was Itachi.Was he safe? Did they capture him too or just killed him there? That was ridiculous; he may not have been at his full capacity, but it would take more than that to kill him.

Wait a second, why was she tied up by her so-called _friends? _

'_Don't be stupid,' _Inner Sakura chided_, 'They don't trust you, why would they let you roam around free?'_

Managing to lift herself from the ground, she attempted move into a more comfortable position but found herself unable to. The nausea of brought on by the movement was overwhelming. She nearly fell back down if it wasn't for the arm that held her up—wait, whose arm? Naturally, Sakura was wary of an unknown person being in such close proximity, especially in her weakened state and the owner of the arm must have felt her anxiety seeing as they lightened their hold and spoke up.

"Sakura, calm down."

She relaxed completely at the sound of the voice as she sighed in relief.

_Kakashi_

She slumped against the support of his arm and conveniently placed shoulder.

Kakashi looked at the limp form resting against him and he couldn't help but sigh regretfully. Said limp form was one of his ex-students and teammates, as well as part of his surrogate family and she was currently wearing a cloak that branded her as one of Konoha's greatest enemies. Where did he go wrong? He was, however, thankful that they'd been able to get her back but she and her teammate didn't put up as much of a fight as he thought and he was worried that maybe, they were trying to make sure she was captured. Was Akatsuki plotting something? The silver-haired nin dismissed the thought easily; even though Sakura was no longer with them, she'd never do anything to hurt them intentionally. She still loved them. With that thought in mind, he relaxed into his lazy posture and let Sakura rest comfortably as he pulled out his usual orange book with one thought in mind.

'_Might as well relax now, while we can,'_

_-_

**A/N:  
**I'm sorry that this chapter took longer to write than usual, so thank you to my ever-faithful readers who keep reading anyway, and thanks to the new readers too (:  
I know that Itachi's been REALLY OOC here, but I managed to wedge in there somewhere that he's only like that with her and outside he's his usual too-cool-for-you self. I'll try to show that side of him a bit more in the coming chapter, so sorry if it's been bugging you lately.

Thank you for reading.

Hope you enjoyed. Reviews are highly appreciated :D_**  
QUESTION!**_

Should I make this a sad ending or a happy ending?

Don't worry, I don't plan to end this fic soon, but I'd just like to know where it's headed

-


	11. Chapter 11

**Last Priority**

**Chapter 11**

_Enjoy (:_

_-_

_Previously on Last Priority…_

_Managing to lift herself from the ground, Sakura attempted move into a more comfortable position but found herself unable to. The nausea of brought on by the movement was overwhelming. She nearly fell back down if it wasn't for the arm that held her up—wait, who's arm? Naturally, Sakura was wary of an unknown person being in such close proximity, especially in her weakened state and the owner of the arm must have felt her anxiety seeing as they lightened their hold and spoke up._

_"Sakura, calm down."_

_She relaxed completely at the sound of the voice as she sighed in relief. _

_Kakashi_

_She slumped against the support of his arm and conveniently placed shoulder._

_Kakashi looked at the limp form resting against him and he couldn't help but sigh regretfully. Said limp form was one of his ex-students and teammates, as well as part of his surrogate family and she was currently wearing a cloak that branded her as one of Konoha's greatest enemies. Where did he go wrong? He was, however, thankful that they'd been able to get her back but she and her teammate didn't put up as much of a fight as he thought and he was worried that maybe, they were trying to make sure she was captured. Was Akatsuki plotting something? The silver-haired nin dismissed the thought easily; even though Sakura was no longer with them, she'd never do anything to hurt them intentionally. She still loved them. With that thought in mind, he relaxed into his lazy posture and let Sakura rest comfortably as he pulled out his usual orange book with one thought in mind._

'Might as well relax now, while we can,'

_-_

"Sakura-chan," Naruto called solemnly as he made his way over to her mangled figure.

The Konoha ninja did not treat her badly; she'd done this to herself. She kept struggling against her chains which only caused them to tighten and send jolts of electricity through her to knock her out. That would have been okay…if only she hadn't been Tsunade's apprentice. Sakura learned to counter the electricity that jolted through her and she'd stayed awake, struggling against her restraints insistently and eventually dislocating her shoulders and breaking a few bones. On top of that, the repeated jolts of electricity were damaging her system and Naruto was certain she was aware of that fact but still, she remained to struggle and hurt herself.

Sakura's paused in her fruitless endeavor to regard her best friend, "Naruto."

"Please stop struggling, Sakura-can. No one wants to see you hurt yourself." He gently helped her into a sitting position, leaning against a tree for support.

Sakura merely sighed in defeat and decided that maybe it was enough for now. She was obviously getting nowhere and to keep trying would be foolish.

"Do you need anything? Water, food, some clothes maybe?"

Sakura shook her head, "No, I'm fine."

"Kaka-sensei, do we have any water left?" He called.

Sakura raised an eyebrow. Hadn't she said no? She felt her overwhelming thirst but refused to acknowledge it for the sake of her pride.

As if reading her mind, Naruto grinned sheepishly. "We aren't best friends for nothing you know."

Her eyes softened at his admission. _'Best friends,' _he had reassured her. Even though she betrayed them all, he remained loyal to her. Thinking back to when Sasuke left, she supposed she'd have the same reaction with him when he was brought back to Konoha. She smiled through the dirt and blood that had dried on her face. "Thank you," she mumbled weakly.

Kakashi came back with the requested bottle of water and left a damp wash cloth in Naruto's hand, obviously seeing the need to wash the grime that had accumulated on her skin.

"I can't undo your chains, I'm sorry." Sakura was disappointed but she hadn't expected him to. Naruto brought the water to her mouth and she drank it gratefully. After setting the drink down, he proceeded to clean her face with the wash cloth Kakashi had left. The cool material was soft on her skin and Sakura closed her eyes in satisfaction. After he finished with her face, Naruto moved on to her neck, arms and eventually her bruised and battered legs.

"All done," he said, breaking their comfortable silence. "Sakura-chan…"

She knew that tone, he was going to ask her…

"Why?"

_There it was. _

"You're going to have to be more specific than that." She refused to meet his gaze.

"Why did you leave us…to join _them_?" Even though she wasn't looking at him, she could hear the clear hurt in his voice.

Sakura sighed. "My reasons are my own." She thought back to the first time she'd heard these words… from Itachi. She absently wondered if he was alright.

"Sakura-chan…please, let us help. I can see you're hurting and I can't help you unless I know why," he pleaded.

"These chains could be a bit looser…" she began.

"This isn't a joke."

"Naruto, please believe me when I say I know what I'm doing. Akatsuki hasn't harmed Konoha or _you _lately,as far as I know, but unless you let me go, I have no guarantees that it will stay that way." She couldn't tell him that she'd betrayed them for their own safety. If Naruto, or anyone else for that matter, was to learn of this, they'd surely come after the Akatsuki and try to get her back, leading them to their own deaths. If they were the ones to engage in battle, then Akatsuki was permitted to do whatever it takes to _'remove the problem,' _as Pein had so quaintly put it. She wouldn't let that happen.

"Are you threatening us?"

"No, I'm trying to warn you. I don't want you to get hurt—"

"Too late," he said grimly. She knew he wasn't talking about his physical injuries, but the pain she'd put them through when she left.

"Naruto, haven't I always been the rational one?" She finally met his gaze.

"Yes," he grumbled grudgingly.

"And don't I always think things through?"

"Yes," he repeated.

"Then shouldn't you trust that I know what I'm doing and that I've thought this through?"

"I know!" Naruto exclaimed suddenly. She imagined a light bulb clicking on above his head, judging by the light in his eyes. She only hoped he hadn't figured it out. "You're on an undercover mission to infiltrate them and you haven't really deserted us!"

Sakura nearly let out a sigh of relief, "I'm sorry, Naruto. As much as I know you wish it, that's not the case." She shook her head gingerly, lowering her gaze to the ground once more.

Naruto instantly deflated. "Sakura-chan … you can trust me. Why won't you at least tell me?"

"You're being difficult."

The Kyuubi container just looked at her expectantly, the dim glow of the evening sun cast aging shadows on his tired face. Where was the rambunctious 12 year-old she remembered? When had he left to make room for this tired looking person in front of her?

"Naruto, I trust you more than anyone on this planet, but this is something I have to do by myself." Sakura felt the hot tears forming behind her eyes but she hastily blinked them away, refusing to cry.

"Sakura-chan they're killers!"

"Aren't we all?" She looked up, seeing the cerulean blue eyes that, once upon a time, gave her courage and comfort; now they only brought pain and guilt.

"I-it's different!" he tried to defend.

Kakashi noticed the rising tension in his pupils' conversation but chose not to intervene. If anyone could bring Sakura back, it was Naruto and he was putting his trust in the young blonde.

"We've gone through this before. Calm down, Naruto."

"In case you've forgotten, they're criminals!"

"And in case _you've _forgotten, so am I."

"But you didn't have to be… I just don't understand." His spirit and fight died down quickly.

"And you don't have to; you just have to understand that I know what I'm doing." Sakura swore to protect everyone that was important to her. She'd give up anything and everything to do what she believed, and she did. She didn't regret her choices and there was no way she was going to back out of it now.

"What if I betrayed you Sakura-chan? What would you do if I left to join an organization that tried to take your life over and over, an organization that nearly killed one of your friends? They would have killed Gaara if you weren't there to save him. What if someone needs you again, but you aren't there?"

"Naruto, I'm not doing this to hurt you—"

"So it's just a bonus?"

"I thought we were best friends—"

He cut her off again, "Yeah? So did I."

Why? Why was he hurting her this way? Was he trying to pay her back for the pain she caused him? Was he trying to show her how much he was hurting? Well, misery certainly likes company. She could hardly hold back the tears.

"Naruto! Let me finish!"

"Only if you tell me you're coming back to Konoha for good."

Sakura's voice died down to nearly a whisper, "Whether you chose to believe me or not, I still love you and the village and I'm doing this for the best. And whether you chose to trust me or not, I'd never do anything to hurt you intentionally."

"Sakura-chan, I want to, I really do, but I can't ignore the fact that they're criminals, you are one too. Your partner is Sasuke's brother, and he killed his entire clan which is unforgivable."

"I understand." It was getting tiring, arguing with Naruto. Sakura was already exhausted before he came, and now she was beyond exhausted. "I'm sorry, Naruto, but it seems that from now on, we're enemies."

Naruto shook his head. "We'll never be enemies, you're still my best friend and I l—…" he broke off and looked away. "I'm not giving up on you Sakura-chan."

"There's nothing I can do to change your mind?" She asked hopefully.

"Is there anything to change yours?"

Sakura shook her head.

"Then me neither."

She now understood, if only a little, what Sasuke meant that night he left. Why he had thanked her before knocking her out. He was thanking her for going that extra mile, for caring enough to try to bring him back.

"Thank you, Naruto."

He had a puzzled look on his face and she imagined that she must have had that same look on her face then too. Slowly, her eyelids began to droop as she felt her consciousness leave her. The last thing she remembered was something warm enveloping her, beckoning her further into dreamland.

-

Naruto saw that Sakura was growing tired and eventually fell asleep, nearly falling to the ground but he hastily caught her, wrapping his arms around her.

"I'm not giving up on you, Sakura-chan," he repeated in a whisper.

How could he change her mind? How could he show her that this was all a mistake? What reason could there possibly be to leave Konoha behind? Was she unsatisfied with her life in the village? Maybe she wanted to grow stronger; but no, that wasn't like her at all. She didn't strive for power; she lived to help people which is why she was a medic nin.

He didn't expect it to be easy to persuade her to come back willingly, but that didn't stop him from hoping.

Maybe he'd try again tomorrow, but for now, he was worn out and wanted nothing more than to close his eyes and give in to the nagging voice in his head telling him to sleep, however, he was too disconcerted to relax enough for sleep to overtake him. He leaned back against the tree conveniently behind him and counted the stars above him, hoping it would help him sleep.

Kakashi looked back to Naruto and Sakura in wonder. Judging from the look on Naruto's tired face, he guessed it didn't work out too well. Sakura was still in chains and unwilling to return. Word of her betrayal had not been spread throughout the village yet, only her closest friends were aware of her defect, but how long could that last? Eventually, there would be wanted posters of her everywhere and soon, her name would be added to the bingo book. The whole Sasuke debacle made him question his teaching methods and now Sakura was making him reconsider his decision of becoming a sensei. Perhaps he shouldn't take on another team…ever. Maybe he'd go back to the ANBU and fight for the village until he outlived his use and died. That sure sounded simpler than everything that had happened so far. Kakashi shook his head to clear his mind as he made his way over to Genma to relieve him of watch duty. This would be a long night.

-

Once again, Sakura awoke in acute pain, the soreness of her body taking its toll on her. Her muscles felt like they were on fire, a result from the repeated shocks of electricity; her joints creaked angrily—from lack of use she assumed— as she tried to move the experimentally; her bones broken in several places; and she had bruises all over her knees and legs from spending so much time on the ground. Sakura inwardly wondered if this was how Sasuke would be treated when he was forced to come back. Of course, he wouldn't allow himself to be captured in the first place. She was reminded of her weakness and once again, she wasn't strong enough.

This is what she feared the most. This was her chance to get away from the Akatsuki and they would just think she was being held prisoner. However, she found part of herself wanting to go back to headquarters and resuming her life with the other missing nin. Of course another part of her wanted to stay here and resume her old life again, but she couldn't ignore the fact that she _liked _her lifestyle with the criminals. Sakura refused to continue that train of thought, knowing it would certainly just add to the headache making its presence known. She tried to raise her hands to relieve herself of said headache, only to be reminded that she was still tied up and being held prisoner. She could see everyone else getting ready and it seemed that they were getting ready to move again.

"Yo," Kakashi crouched down beside her and helped her up into a sitting position. "We're leaving in a few minutes, and I'm sure you won't travel with us willingly, so I apologize."

Sakura threw him a questioning glance, but before she could voice her inquiry, her vision faded and she was called back to the realm of unconsciousness once more. Kakashi had knocked her out…again. Great.

-

"She's been … a concussion but … injured … few days. Looks…awake." Sakura heard bits and pieces of a conversation going on but couldn't seem to piece it together. She was laying in a bed in…a white room. It smelled familiar. The hospital! She was back in Konoha again; though, she wasn't as thrilled as she should have been.

"Sakura, can you hear me?" She blinked a few times before focusing on the woman speaking to her. Who was she? She sounded familiar…but, who was it?

"Nnngh," came Sakura's gurgled reply as she nodded her head sagely.

"Do you know where you are?"

"K-Konoha...?" The sudden realization hit Sakura hard as she bolted upright in her bed, causing her to wince in pain. Her body was still stiff and the sudden movement strained her. Two strong hands were placed on her shoulders, urging her to lie back down.

"Don't strain yourself. Just stay in bed for now." Her mentor's voice was softer than she remembered, her slight wrinkles betraying her real age.

Once more, Sakura closed her eyes and allowed sleep to overtake her. It seemed like that's all she'd been doing lately but she wasn't feeling any more rested than before; if anything, she was more exhausted than ever.

-

"Sakura-san's been kidnapped?!" Tobi's enthusiastic voice died down after being told the details of her capture. Leader had sent him, Deidara, Kakuzu, and Hidan to retrieve her as soon as possible. "Tobi will do whatever you say, Itachi-san, if it will bring her back!"

"Hn," came the reply.

"Little bitch got herself captured, huh? Shoulda known as much, but why do _I _have to get involved in this?" Hidan was none too pleased at being told he was going on a little scavenger hunt. "She got herself into this mess, why the fuck do I have to get dragged into this?"

"Calm down, Hidan," his partner said in a slightly chiding tone, "These are Leader's orders, so we have no choice."

"Hmph, incompetent bitch," the silver-haired nin crossed his arms in defiance.

"Everyone just shut up, yeah. Let's just get through it. What's the plan Itachi?" Deidara finally spoke up, effectively breaking the argument and preventing any more from starting.

Itachi explained what they'd do as everyone listened for their own roles. In three days time, they'd make their move.

After the meeting Itachi went out to the courtyard to think, a habit Sakura had instilled in him. How was she? Was Konoha treating her as a prisoner, or one of their own? Maybe they'd persuaded her to stay; maybe she didn't any persuading at all. But whether she wanted to stay with them or not, she had no choice. It was in her nature, Itachi had learned, to help her friends and loved ones, even at the cost of her happiness, health, or even her life. Then where did that leave him then? During their…_relationship_—if it could be called that—they had never talked about a future, what exactly was happening between them, or how serious it was. Was he one of her important people, someone she'd want to protect? It's not that he particularly needed her protection, but what it meant. He had never taken the time to examine his feelings toward her or how deep it went, but now she was gone, and he found himself regretting it. Now he had no idea how to react to it. He may be viewed as a genius, but when it came to personal issues, he was at a loss for what to do. Maybe he should talk to Sakura about it when she returned; which brought him back to square one: would she want to come back? The thought of her coming back because she had no other choice made his chest tighten uncomfortably. A part of him wanted her to come back because she _liked _being there with them…with _him, _but another part of him just wanted her back, no questions asked. Itachi sighed as he tried to clear his mind and tried to meditate. If his plan was going to work, he would need to be completely focused on it, and nothing else.

"Itachi-san, I thought I might find you here," a certain red-headed genius came to sit on the bench opposite him. Sasori was definitely one of the last people he expected to seek him out.

"Sasori-san, is there something you need?" Itachi cracked open an eye.

"No, nothing really, just came to talk."

"Hn."

"I'm sure you find Haruno-san's recent capture troubling, as most of us do."

Itachi remained silent, as Sasori expected him to.

"But you seem to be taking it harder than I expected, which worries me."

"Why is that?" The sharingan user gave his full attention to Sasori, interested in where this was going.

"For your safety and hers, I want to remind you of your priorities, do not get caught in your emotions, Itachi-san. I am truly happy for you and Haruno-san and what you two do is not my problem, I am simply warning you of the repercussions of your actions."

"Thank you for your concern, Sasori-san, but I can assure you that I have things under control."

"Very well, as long as you are aware. Goodnight, Itachi-san." The red-head gave him one final look before nodding and going back inside.

When had he become so transparent? Itachi wondered. Who else shared Sasori's views? He sighed and resumed his meditating, hoping to find an answer in the silence.

-

Sakura's heavy eyelids lifted, the dull, pallid ceiling of her room draining what little energy she had, the bright fluorescent, white surroundings burning her retinas.

_'Where am I?' _

Her mind desperately tried to put pieces of her memory back together, but failing miserably. She sat up gingerly, ignoring the pain that shot throughout her entire body.

"Sakura-chan," a voice interrupted the rhythmic _beep-beep_ of the machine on her left and the hum of the lights above her.

She looked towards the source of the voice to see a boy dressed in ridiculously bright orange clothes. She closed in hopes to quell the nausea in her stomach; everything was too bright. After a few moments she opened her eyes again and directed her attention to the boy beside her.

Sakura cleared her throat. "Who are you?" She managed to croak out.

Naruto's eyes widened in shock, "You … you don't know?" She shook her head. "Do you know who _you _are?"

"Haruno Sakura, ninja of the Hidden Leaf Village."

"Is there anything else you can remember?"

Sakura thought hard and long, but could only think of one thing. "My parents are dead…" she said in a whisper.

Naruto nodded solemnly. The only other thing she could remember was one of the hardest things she could accept. However, she didn't say anything about Akatsuki or leaving Konoha, so that gave him hope.

"Sakura-chan, my name is Uzumaki Naruto. We're best friends; try to remember that while I get baa-chan, k?"

"Naruto…" Sakura looked at him, then nodded, "Thank you."

The blonde smiled at her, a bit of the bright cerulean blue returning to his eyes in hope. "Anytime." He left the room quietly in search of the Hokage.

-

**A/N**:  
Hmm… I'm running out of ideas, I'm having a hard time thinking of what should come next ... but don't worry, I'll think of something! Sorry these posts have been a bit farther apart than they were when I first started, but school's starting in a few days so I have a lot to do, thank you for your patience :D  
Thanks for reading!  
Hope you enjoyed. Reviews are highly appreciated :D

Once again, I'd like to ask a question…  
Should I make this a sad ending or a happy ending?  
Don't worry, I don't plan to end this fic soon, but I'd just like to know where it's headed


	12. Chapter 12

**Last Priority**

**Chapter 12**

_Enjoy (:_

_-_

_Previously on Last Priority…_

_Sakura cleared her throat. "Who are you?" She managed to croak out._

_Naruto's eyes widened in shock, "You … you don't know?" She shook her head. "Do you know who you are?"_

"_Haruno Sakura, ninja of the Hidden Leaf Village."_

"_Is there anything else you can remember?"_

_Sakura thought hard and long, but could only think of one thing. "My parents are dead…" she said in a whisper._

_Naruto nodded solemnly. The only other thing she could remember was one of the hardest things she could accept. However, she didn't say anything about Akatsuki or leaving Konoha, so that gave him hope._

"_Sakura-chan, my name is Uzumaki Naruto. We're best friends; try to remember that while I get baa-chan, k?"_

"_Naruto…" Sakura looked at him, then nodded, "Thank you."_

_The blonde smiled at her, a bit of the bright cerulean blue returning to his eyes in hope. "Anytime." He left the room quietly in search of the Hokage._

_-_

"Ne, baa-chan," Naruto addressed his superior, "Something happened to Sakura-chan."

Tsunade's eyes widened in worry although the worry and panic were absent in his voice. "What is it Naruto?" She had already started making her way towards her apprentice's room.

"She can't remember anything! But…it seems like a good thing…kind of."

'_That's right.'_ The busty blonde slowed her steps. She had wiped her memory of nearly everything, leaving them with a clean slate. It had been a hard decision and personally, she was dead set against it; tampering with her memory was too personal and she felt as if she was invading her student's privacy and betraying her trust, even if it _did_ bring her back. She felt guilty of stealing a part of Sakura's life, who knows _what _happened in her time away, but in the end, she had to put her village first. Having Sakura back in Konoha would bring everything back the way it was before she left and none would be the wiser. The village was oblivious to her defect and everyone could continue thinking that way. Sakura was loved throughout the village and the hospital could definitely use the help, plus her team wasn't doing too well with their new captain. Only Shizune, Kakashi, and herself were aware of the jutsu placed on her. They could feed Sakura her memory as they wished, leaving out the parts they didn't wish for her to remember, the main thing being her defect from the village. This would rest heavy on her conscience, but she made the right choice…she hoped. The three of them agreed that this would remain a private matter and they could only hope that Sakura's memory didn't return and that the Akatsuki didn't come looking for her. It had been relatively peaceful in the village these past several months and it was a welcomed change from their usual panic and rush. Tsunade hoped to the heavens that she had made the right choice.

The Hokage raised an eyebrow and did her best to look perplexed, "Hm, it seems the concussion was worse than I originally thought," she lied. Had she said that to anyone else, they might have questioned her, for she was one of the three Sannin, she wouldn't have made a mistake as ridiculous as that, but thankfully, Naruto paid it no mind.

"Well, that's good…I guess."

"A good thing? How so, Naruto?"

"Well, you know … she doesn't remember leaving Konoha, and maybe she won't have to? Maybe she can stay here and we'll just act like it never happened."

"Hmm," Tsunade pretended to think about it, "That does sound like a good idea; we'll talk about it when Kakashi arrives." The two adults had taken the role of Sakura's surrogate parents and it was only right that he was included in the discussion, though she already knew how that would go.

"Right!" the younger blonde looked hopeful, "Are you gonna come see her baa-chan?"

"I suppose I should, I need to check up on her soon anyway."

The two blondes ninja made their way to room 301; Sakura's room.

-

_Uzumaki Naruto. _Sakura kept running the name through her mind, hoping to jolt some of her memory back. She sat up carefully

'_We're best friends,' _he told her.

She wondered what kind of a person he was. He hadn't said much and she couldn't really tell much about him other than he must be one brave person to be able to wear such absurdly bright colors around the village.

"_I'm going to be Hokage someday, believe it!"_ The sentence rang out loudly through her mind.

_Where did that come from? _She wondered belatedly. _And who was it? _Sakura though hard, trying to put a face on the voice…

_Uzumaki Naruto!_

Suddenly it came back to her. _'We're best friends,' _Sakura heard the voice again. At that moment, the door clicked open and two people walked in quietly.

"Naruto!" she called enthusiastically. He went to stand beside her bed and she hugged him tightly, well, as tightly as she could in her current state of health, which wasn't saying much.

"Have you remembered me?" he asked as he returned her hug carefully.

Sakura nodded into his shoulder slowly, "I think so…I mean, yeah, I do." Naruto let her go reluctantly.

"Sakura, you shouldn't be up right now," the other blonde chided lightly as she urged her to lie back down. The woman was very…busty and made no move to conceal her _assets. _She had warm amber eyes that looked at her kindly. Sakura felt as though she should know this person, but she couldn't quite place a name. The woman had a warm, almost familiar touch but still, Sakura couldn't think of what her relationship with this person might be. She simply nodded absently as she let the other woman look over her injuries.

"Naruto told me what happened, would you mind if I asked you a few questions?" The older woman asked.

Sakura shook her head, "I don't mind, though I don't know if I can answer them."

Tsunade knew how to unlock certain parts of her memory and remind her of certain aspects of her life. "That's fine, just answer what you can. Can you remember you position in Konoha?"

"I'm a ninja… a medic and…I think I took the ANBU exams."

"Head medic, and yes, you took the exam, and passed; you're an ANBU captain." Tsunade beamed at her student with pride.

Sakura's eyes widened. "No way, really?" The older blonde nodded. "Wow, I never would have imagined, I must have a pretty good life then …medic hm? You were important, weren't' you?" Tusnade gave Sakura a few moments to figure who she was to the young woman. "You're," a moment of silence passed between them, "Tsunade-shishou! You're my mentor and the Hokage!"

"Very good, do you remember anything else?"

"It feels like everything is just a dream and I can't really get a firm hold on anything; everything's just a hazy mess, but I remember people, I just don't know…"

"That's fine, it will come in time. Now, do you remember who your genin team was?"

"Um, Naruto…and two others."

Naruto was inwardly pleased that she remembered him.

"Right, those two others are Uchiha Sasuke and Hatake Kakashi. Do you know who they are?"

Sakura took a few moments to try and recall the two familiar sounding names. "Kaka-sensei…he has silver hair, um wasn't he always late?" Naruto nodded vigorously. "And he was always reading that awful orange book of his!"

"Icha Icha Paradise!" Naruto supplied.

"Right. Now we're getting somewhere." Tsunade was getting a bit worried that she'd remember her defect, but soon brushed it off; she was confident in this jutsu and if it was never brought it up and they instilled it into her _who _the enemies of Konoha were, then hopefully it would never surface.

They continued this until Kakashi made his presence known.

"Kaka-sensei! Took you long enough," Naruto lightly complained.

Kakashi's visible eye creased, indicating the smile that was present behind his mask. "Well you see, there was a little girl who was lost and she asked me to help her find her way back, but we had a bit of trouble figuring that out."

Sakura laughed lightly, "That's a lie Kakashi-sensei."

"Sakura, my favorite female student, it's good to see you awake."

Once again, Tsunade thanked the higher powers that it was Naruto who was with them and not someone like Shikamaru. Had he been anyone else, he would've wondered why Kakashi was so friendly towards someone who, as far as he knew, was still a threat to the village, since he hadn't been informed of Sakura's _condition._

"I'm you're _only _female student," Sakura's weak voice pulled Tsunade from her thoughts.

"Ouch, that hurt Sakura-chan," Kakashi feigned hurt as he walked to her bed, making brief eye contact with Tsunade. "How are you feeling?"

She smiled weakly, "I've been better."

"Kakashi," the older blonde interrupted their conversation, "Can I speak with you outside?"

"Of course Tsunade-sama."

Not wanting to be left out, Naruto jumped up out of his chair, "Me too!"

The Hokage sighed, "Very well."

"We'll be back before you know it Sakura-chan!" Naruto reassured as he followed the other two outside.

The three left the room silently.

"Kakashi," Tsunade started, "I believe I would be best not to remind Sakura of what has been happening lately, but I thought I should consult it with you first." This was her way of saying, _'It worked.'_

"Hai. That would be for the best, but what if remembers herself? Is there a possibility that that'd happen?"

Surprisingly, Naruto sat quietly through this entire exchange, listening to what the two adults had to say.

"That _could_ happen, who knows. But the possibilities seem low, as long as we don't show or tell her anything that would set off that memory, then it shouldn't come up. Also, we should start reminding her who the Akatsuki _are _and what they've done in order to drill it into her that they're the enemy. That way, if that part of her memory starts to come back, she probably won't believe it and just think it was some kind of dream," Tsunade explained.

Kakashi nodded, "Hm, that sounds like it'll work."

They spent some more time devising a plan to make sure Sakura didn't remember any of her time with the Akatsuki or her defect. Deep inside, none of the three felt right about taking a part of her life from her, but this was for the best.

-

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto called out loudly, "How are you feeling?"

"Quiet down, Naruto, this is a hospital," Sakura lightly chided. "And I feel fine, thanks for asking."

"Ha, same old Sakura-chan," the blonde smiled sheepishly.

Over the course of two weeks, Sakura had been reminded of her past, at least, the parts they wanted her to remember, and she seemed to be the way she had been before she left. Some things were still fuzzy, but she believed them because she was told it happened. She didn't have memories of a lot of things actually happening, but she was told that it would come back in time.

"Tsunade baa-chan said you can leave the hospital today!"

"Finally, I've been wondering when I can finally get out of here. I've been feeling good enough to leave for almost a week now."

"They always say that," he grinned.

A quiet knock sounded from the door.

"Sakura, may I enter?" a smooth voice called from the other side of the door.

"Yeah, come in," she called back. The door slid open and ANBU captain, Hyuuga Neji walked in, closing the door silently behind him.

"Sakura, Naruto," he greeted them with a nod.

"Hey Neji! What took you so long? She's been here forever!" Naruto motioned for him to sit in the empty chair on the other side of Sakura's bed.

"I apologize, I just returned from a mission this morning. I came here as soon as my duties allowed me." He took the offered seat beside the patient.

"Neji…we were…close. Weren't we?" Sakura fiddled with her fingers, refusing to look at Neji. She felt guilty about not remembering someone she felt may have been like a brother to her.

Naruto got up from his chair. "I'm kinda hungry. You guys catch up; I'm going to have some ramen!" He sensed that they should be alone to figure things out and let himself out.

"Hai, thanks for coming, Naruto," Sakura called as he left. Neji simply nodded his regards.

Neji had been told that she didn't remember much, but it still slightly shocked him when she asked her previous question.

"I get this feeling that we were something like family," the rosette kunoichi still refused to meet his gaze.

-_Flashback-_

_A few days after her parents' death and it still rained. Sakura tried to be strong, but it finally became too much for her. Today was especially painful because it was the day of their funeral. After everyone left for the reception, Sakura broke down and ran outside. She simply ran. She didn't think of where she was going or how long she'd been running, but by the time she was able to think clearly, she realized she'd been running very far. Sakura noticed three things: one, she was still in her mourning robes and she was soaked to the bone from the rain; two, she was in some kind of forest; and three, she was completely lost. She crouched down by a tree and hugged her knees to her chest and continued to cry, her sobs racking her entire body. Sakura had no idea how long she had been sitting there, but eventually her sobs died down and she just sat there, unfeeling._

"_Haruno-san," a familiar voice called out, "What are you doing here?"_

_Sakura's eyes widened, "Neji!" She got up quickly and rubbed her eyes, hoping to clear any evidence of her breakdown. "I—um…I was just out for a walk and I, uh, I just got kind of lost." She laughed awkwardly._

_Neji's eyes narrowed slightly, not believing her story, but he didn't pry. "You are in the Hyuuga private training grounds," he informed her as he began to unbutton his coat. Sakura cocked her head to the side in confusion. "If you require assistance in returning to your home, I will lead you out of the training grounds and take you home."_

_Neji was aware of the death of her parents and he and his family had gone to the funeral a few hours earlier to pay their respects. He knew why Sakura was _really _here and what she had been doing. Even if he didn't know what happened, the look on her face and the red, puffy, shadowed eyes were enough. He took his coat off and placed it on her shoulders as he offered his umbrella to her. _

"_Being a medic, one would think you'd take better care of your health, Haruno-san."_

_Sakura stared speechless for a while, completely shocked at Neji's blatantly kind actions. She simply stared at him. She finally found her voice and said, "You um…don't have to give me this, you can keep it. You'll get sick."_

_He smirked but chose not to answer. He led her to the Hyuuga compound to dry her off and was content with the silence. Sakura however, wasn't so comfortable; she was feeling slightly awkward, wearing the Hyuuga genius' jacket, but wisely chose to stay quiet. Once inside, she dried off and he walked her home, asking her if she needed anything before he left. Sakura declined politely and thanked him for his kindness._

_-End Flashback-_

Now that she thought about it, she still had that jacket hanging in her closet. They had grown steadily closer since then and become nearly inseparable over time. Neji wasn't openly _nice_ but she knew that he cared, even though he insisted on staying a human ice block and didn't show it. She vaguely recalled having a small crush on him at one point, but she was fairly certain that it had gone away. Plus, she had the feeling that she was already attached to someone else, but she couldn't quite think of who.

"Indeed, we were good friends," he said, breaking her from her train of thoughts.

"Hm, sorry I can't seem to remember everything. I think I remember certain parts of our friendship, Tsunade-shishou said it'll come back in time."

Neji nodded, "Take your time, there is no rush."

"Thanks," she finally looked up, into his silver eyes. "Do you want to go for lunch or something? We can catch up; shishou says I'm getting out today."

He looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

She took this as a rejection and was quick to retract her earlier offer, "But if you don't want to then it's fine, I'm sure you're busy and—"

"Lunch sounds good,"

Sakura smiled, "Thanks."

-

Itachi walked into a hotel, his teammates Tobi, Deidara, Kakuzu, and Hidan following after. They were staying at a small hotel on the border of Fire Country

This would be their last comfortable stop until they completed this mission to retrieve Sakura. After they enter Fire, they'd need to be on high alert and infiltrating Konoha would be no easy task. The group valued this last rest and planed to make the best of it.

"Three rooms," Itachi said softly, the underlying authority apparent in soft voice.

"Right away," the busty and slightly underdressed clerk said from behind the counter. She handed Itachi the keys, lightly brushing against his hand as she did so, before winking suggestively at him.

Without so much as a word or second glance at her, Itachi distributed the keys and walked away.

Tobi looked over at the clerk and shrugged before thanking her and walking to his room with his partner.

-_Later that evening-_

Itachi, who sat on his bed, leaning against his headboard, looked up at the sound of footsteps approaching. He waited silently for the person on the other side of the door to knock and make their presence known. When they didn't, Itachi walked to the door and opened it expectantly.

"Can I help you?" He asked politely.

"I just came to check if you were comfortable." It was the clerk form earlier. She let herself in as Itachi just stared at her. He definitely did not need this now. Her intentions were no secret, but he just wanted to be alone right now.

Sure, she was attractive and had a great figure, but all he could think of was how Sakura was much more attractive than this cheap girl standing in his room.

When did he become so hopelessly devoted to Sakura? When did he start comparing all girls to Sakura and immediately dismissed them? The thought put him lightly on edge and decided to lock that thought away for further examination some other time. Itachi was no man whore, but every criminal is entitled to a one night stand every now and then.

"Phew, it's not in here," the clerk slowly unbuttoned her already too revealing shirt as Itachi closed the door. She walked over to him, stopping inches away from him and tilted her head up. He simply stared at her unfeelingly as he absently compared her olive green eyes to Sakura's emerald ones. He like Sakura's more, he decided. They always calmed him down when he looked into them, but set him on alert at the same time. She could be so unpredictable at times and her moods were fairly volatile. One moment she'd be happy, then annoyed at him for one reason or another, but that never lasted long. Soon after, she'd be back to her seemingly carefree self.

While Itachi was slightly distracted by his thoughts, which was highly uncharacteristic of him, the clerk who still had yet to mention her name took the opportunity to press her lips onto his own.

Itachi's eyes shot down to her face as he brought his hand to grip her shoulders. She moved her lips experimentally against his but he only gripped her shoulders tighter and pulled her away from him roughly.

"I am not interested," he said coldly.

"O-oh…" she backed away awkwardly, "I understand. I'll just-um… get out of your way then. I'm sorry for the inconvenience." When Itachi didn't reply, she excused herself from his room and left him alone once again.

He sighed.

Itachi's eyes drifted to the slowly darkening sky outside as his mind drifted to a familiar strawberry-haired kunoichi. He recalled the last time he and Sakura had stayed in a hotel that had a banister much like his current room had.

_-Flashback-_

_Sakura lay in her shared bed with Itachi silently, staring up at the ceiling. She couldn't sleep. Itachi was probably aware that she was still awake but said nothing to acknowledge that he did. He simply lay on his side facing her, his arms wrapped around her loosely with his eyes closed off to the world. Sakura turned her head too look at him for a while before deciding to get up. She disentangled herself from him noiselessly and walked over to the quaint little balcony. _

_Itachi's eyes followed her as she walked out but he didn't move from his spot on the bed. He tried to go back to sleep but found that he couldn't. It just didn't feel the same; the bed felt somehow empty without Sakura's warmth beside him._

_Itachi got up and followed Sakura outside to the balcony to stare out at the sky. She felt a pair of strong arms encircle her waist and a warm breath by her ear. She looked up to see Itachi staring down at her._

"_Did I wake you? I'm sorry." Sakura returned her attention to the vast night sky before them._

"_There is no need to apologize. Are you having problems falling asleep?" Itachi leaned down to rest his chin on her shoulder and mimicked her previous action, staring out at the stars._

_She brought her arms up and covered his arms with her own and sighed in content. "Yeah, a bit," she replied._

"_You are troubled," he stated more than asked._

_Sakura didn't confirm or deny it. "The stars are beautiful aren't they?"_

_He didn't answer right away. He simply stared out at nothing in particular. Finally, he said, "Indeed."_

_-End Flashback-_

Itachi lay down in his bed and tried, in vain, to go to sleep. This would, after all, be the last time he'd sleep in a bed for a long time. Maybe the next time he slept in a bed, Sakura would be there beside him. He closed his eyes and tried to push out the image of Sakura's smiling face from his mind.

-

**A/N:**

I'm really sorry for the late update. School and my extra-curricular activities have been keeping me extremely busy. My posts will definitely be farther apart than they've been during the summer. I hope that's alright! Thank you to my loyal readers who keep reading. It means a lot to me.  
Not much happened in this chapter, I'm sorry.  
If anyone finds Konoha too evil for erasing Sakura's memory, just let me know? Constructive criticism is greatly welcomed and appreciated, that way I can improve my writing! Thanks again for reading.  
Hope you enjoyed! Reviews are greatly appreciated :D  
-Ja

-


	13. Chapter 13

Last Priority

Chapter 13

_Enjoy (:_

_-_

_Previously on Last Priority…_

_Itachi lay down in his bed and tried, in vain, to go to sleep. This would, after all, be the last time he'd sleep in a bed for a long time. Maybe the next time he slept in a bed, Sakura would be there beside him. He closed his eyes and tried to push out the image of Sakura's smiling face from his mind. _

_-_

Itachi awoke a few short hours later from his restless sleep and cursed himself for becoming so vulnerable. It certainly would not do if he was caught off guard or wasn't able to perform at his best when they went to retrieve Sakura because he had failed to get the required amount of sleep. He sighed silently and allowed his mind to run over a particular memory he recalled, raising more questions to his already troubled mind.

_Itachi let his concern for Sakura cloud his better judgment and had nearly them both killed. Their earlier mission had been a near failure, all because he couldn't stand to see Sakura as injured as she had been and still fighting, so he did what he scolded her for doing all those months ago; he saved her at the risk of failing their mission. Thankfully he'd been able to take most of the damage himself, though Sakura did not come out unscathed. Maybe this relationship they'd allowed to develop between them was a bad idea; perhaps they were only truly supposed to be partners, nothing more, or maybe not even that. If things continued the way they were going now, he'd be dead in a matter of months trying to protect her, though he knew she didn't necessarily need to be protected. Still, he didn't like to think of her getting hurt at all, no matter how capable she was. Before they had pursued this relationship, they shared a comfortable, functional partnership. He had somewhat of a hard time taming his desires, but neither of them had been in as much danger as he had placed them in this morning. He despised the thought of such weakness in himself, but he had no one to blame but himself. Itachi couldn't keep Sakura from his mind. Although she brought such a despicable weakness in him, he couldn't bring himself to regret his decisions. These past few months were almost…happy. If he allowed himself to feel such a thing, he imagined it would be something like what he'd been feeling lately; he settled on naming it as content._

_-0-O-0-_

_Sakura limped feebly from her room, making her way to the kitchen. When she arrived, she noticed someone else's presence. She recognized it to be Pein's partner, Konan, she believed. The older, blue-haired nin looked up when Sakura entered. It was no secret that Sakura being recruited into the Akatsuki displeased Konan and the hateful glint in her eye just now proved it. Whether it was because Konan felt intimidated by her presence, being a female such as herself, or some other unknown reason, she didn't know._

_"Haruno Sakura," The paper specialist spat out._

_"Good evening, Konan-san," Sakura responded timidly. She was much too tired to return the venom in her voice._

_"Pein told me about your mission, you nearly failed."_

_"Nearly, but we didn't."_

_"This isn't your first time either is it?"_

_Sakura just sighed._

_"Are you aware that Itachi has never failed a mission in his time here?"_

_Sakura took a seat and looked out the window. "I am."_

_"Ever since he got you as a partner, he's been getting more and more close calls. Yet you don't seem to care enough to fix your mistakes."_

_Sakura didn't reply, didn't know how to reply. Was she having a bad influence on Itachi?_

_"You're going to get him killed you know. He nearly died saving you, though I don't see what he sees in you. The only reason you're here is because of your medical skills; you shouldn't be out on the battlefield endangering our missions and members." The way she said 'our' was strictly exclusive, as if she didn't belong with them._

_Sakura knew that Konan was saying these things because she was trying to discourage their newest member and that she should ignore her words. However, something inside her couldn't help but see the truth in the harsh words. Sakura sighed again; would she never be allowed to be happy? No matter, her mind was made up._

_"I will ask Leader for a new partner then."_

_"That's Leader-sama to you"_

_"Hn." Great, she was picking up Itachi's habits._

_"Instead of asking for a new partner, you should ask to be taken off the mission roster, or better yet, work alone, maybe then you'll get yourself killed," she said wryly._

_Once again, Sakura remained silent. Sensing that the she was done, Konan left the room._

_Sakura couldn't help but wonder if Konan was the only one having these thoughts. Did they all think she was a hindrance but just hid it well? Did Itachi? The throbbing in her leg was becoming too much and she didn't want to add on to that pain, so she made her way to the courtyard to clear her mind. She sat down in the field of flowers, taking in the sweet fragrance and basked in the warmth of the setting sun. Sakura closed her eyes and let the soft breeze carry her away. She listened to the gentle chirping of the crickets, the rattling of the aspen leaves, and the occasional chirping of the brave birds, daring to stay awake at night when the rest of nature slept. The sounds eventually lulled her into a deep sleep in the flower beds. _

_"Oy, blossom, you're gonna get sick out here." _

_Sakura awoke to Kisame's gentle voice. How did such a large, menacing creature pull off such a soft voice; this was her first time hearing it come from his mouth. She opened her eyes hazily and blinked away the remnants of sleep as she tried to focus her mind. She figured it was sometime near midnight, judging by the moon's place in the sky. She looked to her side and saw Kisame crouching beside her._

_"Mmm…what time is it?"_

_"Half past twelve. You're really tired, hm?"_

_"I guess I am…" Sakura's conversation with Konan came rushing back to her. She groaned and rubbed her head, hoping to ease the expected headache._

_"You okay there? You look like you have a hangover or somthin' and trust me, I know how much that blows."_

_Sakura shook her head. "I'm just…really tired; I used up a lot of chakra on the last mission. I'm going inside."_

_Kisame nodded and watched her limp back into the headquarters._

_-_

_*knock, knock._

_Who could possibly be coming to see him at this time? Stupid question; Itachi recognized that chakra signature easily. He pushed his troubling thoughts aside and went to let Sakura in._

_"Um, gomen Itachi. I know it's late."_

_"Hn." He followed her as she went to sit on his bed._

_"This…thing going on between us…I think we both know that," Sakura paused, unsure of what to say as Itachi waited patiently. "It's only going to hurt us Itachi. I don't want to get in your way, so I've decided that I'm going to ask for a new partner." Itachi stiffened at her admission, but didn't say anything. "Maybe we should just forget this ever happened, we'll—" _

_"So when things do not turn out the way you want, you run away, forget it ever happened. Perhaps you really are as weak as Sasuke said." He held her eyes in a cold stare._

_Her palm cracked against his left cheek. Itachi did nothing to acknowledge what she had done, he simply stared at her. Sakura let her rage loose on him and sent several punches and kicks at him. He let her do as she pleased for a while until he decided enough was enough._

_"Sakura."_

_No answer. She merely continued to shower him with punches and kicks here and there._

_"Sakura, stop this."_

_"No."_

_Itachi then started to dodge and block her assault, but never once countered. He pinned her down to the bed after some time, willing for her to calm down. She struggled against him futilely._

_"I apologize for my rude words," he murmured quietly into her hair._

_She said nothing as she lay limply beneath him._

_"I do not wish to forget anything, Sakura." He hovered over her, staring deeply into the emerald eyes that had first enchanted him. His entire body was tense and stiff and his body language screamed anger, however, his eyes were a different story. Their charcoal depths held a soft searching gaze, and Sakura thought she saw confusion flicker behind them, though she may have just been delusional from the pain in her leg. She looked away, unable to bear his scrutiny. _

_"Don't." he nearly whispered. He gently gripped her chin and turned her face towards him, straight into his waiting lips. He kissed her gently, urging her to respond and return the kiss. He tried to remind her just why they allowed this relationship to last as long as they had._

_Sakura pulled away reluctantly and opened her eyes to look at him. "Itachi, this…was a mistake." As much as it hurt to say, she needed him to understand that this was only going to hurt him if they continued._

_Itachi felt a twinge in his chest. Was this… emotional hurt? The weakness and pain he looked down upon and hated was threatening to take over his control. He didn't know what exactly he was feeling, but he didn't like it at all._

_"I was a mistake," he stated more than asked._

_"No, I didn't say that, I just meant that… we made a mistake, letting our desires get the better of us. Being missing nin, we know how dangerous that is and these past few months have been proof of that."_

_Itachi rested his forehead against Sakura's and remained silent for some time. Eventually, he dropped down beside her and pulled her close to him in a frighteningly gentle embrace, but she knew that it would have taken no less than ANBU to pry her away from him if he didn't will it. It took some time, but Sakura returned the embrace, albeit reluctantly, but Itachi didn't seem to mind._

_"How was this a mistake, Sakura?"_

_She simply shook her head and buried her face further into his chest. She didn't trust her voice. She couldn't lie anymore, not to him, not about this. He was not a mistake; she didn't believe her earlier words for a second and she knew that neither did Itachi._

_"I wish for you to stay," he spoke into her hair. Sakura stared wide-eyed at his chest. This was the first time he'd ever voiced out his own desires. Sure, he had preferences, but he never told her he wanted anything. For the longest time, she was convinced that he didn't want anything at all._

_"I wish I could, but I can't. I'm sorry Itachi." She leaned up to give him a peck on the cheek, but he turned his head and held her there; he kissed her softly, yet urgently; slowly, but rushed. They finally broke apart and Sakura pried herself from his grasp. She walked to the door and placed her hand on the doorknob, opened the door, and walked out, but not before sending one last glance at the man she was sure she wouldn't see for a long time._

He had a hard time working without her presence as he had grown accustomed to having her near at all times, but he had managed. It took a while, but Itachi was able to convince Leader, subtly, that Sakura needed to stay with him, and much to her dismay, he agreed. All of her hard work of trying to keep Itachi from her mind and controlling her desire for him was thrown out the window when Leader had told her that she would be resuming her place with Itachi as his partner.

This made Itachi think, did Sakura _really _want to be with him? After all, she did try to leave him, though he wouldn't let her.

Sighing for the umpteenth time, Itachi closed his eyes and once again tried to blank his mind so he could get some sleep.

_-_

Sakura opened her eyes blearily. She was finally released and was safe and sound back into her own home. Why did it feel so unfamiliar and new to be back; kind of like she hadn't been home for a long time? She wasn't even sure if she could really call it _home _anymore; just a house she was staying in. She'd been told that she was on a mission when she and her team were ambushed and that's why she was in the hospital.

_'Just how long was that mission anyway?' _Sakura wondered silently.

She fell into her morning routine effortlessly as she washed her face, made breakfast and took a shower before heading out to the hospital. She would be staying in the village for a while long until she was deemed ready to take on missions outside the village walls again. Until then, she'd be fulfilling her duties at the hospital.

The day passed by quietly enough, as did the days after. She was beginning to get comfortable again and everything felt natural again. A week had passed since she was released from the hospital and Naruto invited her for lunch, which she accepted eagerly. Her heart's brother was extremely helpful throughout the entire ordeal and Sakura was more than grateful to him.

"Sakura-chan!" a voice called.

She looked up at her name to a blonde figure dressed in his usual ridiculously bright orange outfit that seemed to suit him more than anything. "Hi," she smiled. He led her into the restaurant and they talked about light topics, steering clear of her recent stay at the hospital and all that entailed, seeing as the thought of it made Sakura slightly uneasy.

"Ne, Naruto," Sakura's mood did a complete one-eighty as she focused her deep verdant gaze on him. "There's…something I wanted to ask you."

Naruto cocked his head to side slightly, "What is it, Sakura-chan?"

"I, um... Is there something I'm missing?"

"What do you mean?" The kyuubi container began to get slightly worried. Was she starting to remember what they'd work so hard to make her forget?

"I'm not really sure. Everything just feels… kind of surreal; like I'm not really supposed to be here."

"That's ridiculous; of course you're supposed to be here. Just look at your forehead protector." Naruto offered her a comforting smile.

Tsunade suggested they replace Sakura's original headband with a new one, since hers had been efficiently slashed and if that didn't bring her memory back, then nothing would.

"I guess you're right, but sometimes I just feel like I don't really belong here, and that something's missing."

Naruto did his best to assure her that she was exactly where she belonged and Sakura brushed it off as nerves and shakiness from her time in the hospital. However, she wasn't completely reassured. Something she'd never admit to anyone was that at night, she'd often stare at the stars and try to recall that time period she was certain she was missing. She just didn't belong there and she felt empty but she couldn't figure out what was missing and it frustrated her to no end.

Sakura did her best to push these feelings out of her mind but they just wouldn't leave her alone. She asked her mentor to take a look to see if anything was wrong and maybe it was a poison of some sort…or something. Tsunade accepted her request to humor her so she could later assure her student that all was well. Sakura was administered with some medicine that knocked her unconscious so Tsunade could do some tests and check her system in a way that wouldn't be too painful for her student. Just as she

_BANG!_

It seemed that Itachi and his team chose that exact moment to retrieve their lost member.

"_Shit,_" Tsunade cursed to herself. She saw this coming, but _seriously, _couldn't they have picked a better time? She was at a loss for what to do or where to put her prized apprentice. The medicine wouldn't wear off for few more hours and she didn't want to risk leaving her alone. Naruto and Kakashi, Neji, and Shikamaru were on a mission and weren't due back for three more days so that didn't leave her with many other options as to who to leave Sakura with. She couldn't stay with Sakura because she had duties as the Hokage to get out there and secure the safety of her people. She finally decided to leave her with Shino and Sai and went to the streets to do what she could.

It was horrible, many building of Konoha were reduced to a pile of rubble thanks to a shinobi who manipulated bombs. However, it gave Tsunade great pride to see that the members of Akatsuki weren't looking so great and were having a hard time standing their ground against the Leaf nin.

Itachi, however, was not as violent as his teammates. He dashed through the shadows of the village in search for his target, _Haruno Sakura. _

He could sense her chakra nearby and he followed the trail. He stopped when he saw her…laying down sleeping or unconscious…behind two ninja whose names escaped him. No matter, he'd kill them and take Sakura back before his team was killed. That would have been the plan…if Sakura wasn't going to get mad at him afterward. Technically, he was permitted to do as he pleased since Konoha had given Akatsuki more than enough reason to engage in battle, but he knew Sakura wouldn't be pleased with him killing two people he was certain shared some kind of bond with her.

"Uchiha Itachi," called the one wearing sunglasses and a high collared jacket. He recalled seeing this one in battle with Sakura the first time they encountered her, it seemed they'd been on the same team.

"Hn," he replied coolly. That was all that had been said before all hell broke loose.

Sai immediately pulled out a scroll and drew several creature—monsters more like it—and brought them to life, sending them towards his opponent. Itachi easily destroyed them while dodging the swarm of bugs that approached him. Wanting to end this quickly, Itachi closed his eyes and executed a few familiar but deadly hand seals.

"Amaterasu," he murmured before the black fire covered the vicinity, but he was careful to avoid the rosette-haired woman on the bed behind his opponents.

Shino had jumped away and had managed to get away with only a few minor burns; Sai however, wasn't so lucky as his entire left side was burned badly and he was now on the ground, clutching his left arm and panting hard.

The battle continued on for a while longer and Itachi had a few minor injuries of his own, but otherwise was doing fine. His opponents were sporting rather serious injuries; Sai, in addition to the burns, had a gash running along the length of his right arm and had broken his left leg, through the appendage wasn't of much use prior to the injury; Shino had several broken bones, a gaping hole in his abdomen and had a punctured lung so he was having a hard time breathing. Itachi decided to end it and did so without killing them before carefully taking Sakura into his arms and running away to alert his team that the job was done.

Konoha was in a terrible state after they left, bits and pieces of building from one end of the village had somehow managed to end up flying halfway across the village. The Akatsuki, save for Itachi and Hidan, weren't doing much better, each member was sporting their own injuries but it didn't stop them from running like hell into safer grounds.

-

"Nnggh," Sakura woke up suddenly on alert, immediately feeling the absence of any familiar chakra. She shot up from the surprisingly comfortable bed and reached for a kunai, only to find that her weapons pouch had been removed.

'_What the hell?'_ She wondered in her head, '_Where am I? What happened?'_

"Sakura," she heard a deep voice call. Her head snapped towards the direction of the voice, he legs instantly crouching into a battle ready position on the bed. She suddenly froze when she determined the owner of the voice

"_Uchiha Itachi…_" she whispered.

"You are awake." He walked to her until he was directly beside the bed, looking down at her.

"How do you know my name? What do you want with me?" She demanded, trying her hardest to keep her voice from wavering.

Something passed through his eyes as he gazed down at her with an unreadable expression. "You do not remember," he stated.

"Remember what?" she growled. Sakura tensed. _Remember? _Did he know something about what she felt she was missing? The thought frightened her, that she might have something to do with an S-class criminal.

Itachi simply stared at her for a long while before walking away, and leaving her in the room. The room seemed to ignite something within her, but she couldn't seem to place it.

Sakura was left in the room unbothered for hours on end before the door opened once more, revealing a calm Uchiha. Just the thought of him scared Sakura and she did her best to keep her gaze from wandering to him. He placed a tray of food on her lap which she did her best to ignore, though her stomach was clearly in disagreement with her.

"Eat, Sakura," Itachi urged. The way he said her name sent shivers up her spine for reason beyond her.

She knew the food wasn't poisoned because they wouldn't have brought her to wherever she was now only to kill her, but she still refused the food offered to her. Itachi sensed that she wouldn't eat and sighed inaudibly as he moved the tray from her lap to the table beside the bed. He simply watched her and allowed a rush of relief to wash over him, knowing that she was back, although her memory seemed to have been altered.

Sakura felt his intense gaze on her and she shifted under his scrutiny, but refused to look at him. She stared at a spot on the wall and hoped he would go away soon. She was about to finally turn to look at him when she suddenly felt a pair of lips crash down on hers. It seemed Itachi just couldn't help himself.

"Mmph—!" Sakura's eyes widened and she tried to push him away, though her efforts were futile. Itachi kept a strong hold on her waist and behind her head as he kissed her hard. He definitely missed holding her, though he'd never admit it out loud. He finally pulled away and allowed a stunned Sakura some breath.

"What—" Once more, a pair of soft lips claimed hers but this time was gently and coaxing. She felt a warm tongue trace her lips, causing her to gasp and allowing Itachi to plunge his tongue into her soft cavern. Sakura's eyes widened once more, though this time in realization. This felt completely _right, _and she knew why. Her memories came flooding back to her as she returned the kiss with equal passion. Her tongue darted out to play with his and their muscles danced as she clung to him desperately. She allowed him to explore her mouth as she moaned into the kiss and melted into Itachi's arms. When they finally broke away, she sighed in contentment.

"Itachi," she whispered.

"Hn," he replied as he buried his face in her neck, smelling the sweet scent of strawberries.

Itachi finally found it in himself to let go of her and hand her the food tray again, hoping she'd eat something. She smiled at him gently, took the food from him and started eating.

"Are you injured?" she asked him worriedly.

"No," he lied, and she knew it, though she let it go, deciding she'd heal it later on.

"I'm sorry. I put you all through a lot of trouble."

"Do not apologize," he replied softly as he stared at her intently watching her every move. Sakura blushed under his intense gaze and averted her eyes to the window.

"I kind of missed this…even though I didn't know _what _I was missing. I guess I … kind of missed you too, Itachi," Sakura blushed as she told him.

Before she could blink, he was on her once again, lips claiming hers. He wrapped his arms around her petite form possessively as he placed a hand behind her head to deepen the contact. She opened her mouth for him and their tongues met eagerly, dancing and playing with one another. Sakura lifted her hands to play with his impossibly soft hair. She moaned into his mouth and tilted her head back to deepen the contact. He pulled away reluctantly and their lips hovered mere centimeters apart.

"And I you," he whispered, his warm breath fanning her already heated face.

Itachi's lips trailed lower and he kissed his way down her throat and back up, settling on a sensitive spot at the nape where her ear met her jaw.

"Itachi," Sakura sighed contentedly.

He felt his self-control waver and he forcibly removed himself from her before things got out of hand and he was unable to stop himself. He climbed into bed beside and wrapped his arms around her, allowing her to fall asleep safely tucked away in his embrace. Itachi didn't sleep much that night; he simply held the petite woman with pink hair, memorizing the feel of her against him, her arms holding him gently.

-

"Katsu!"

Sakura jumped back to dodge the explosion sent her way and pulled a nearby tree from the ground to throw at her opponent currently perched on a bird in the sky.

"I'm exhausted," the blonde nin said, finally coming down from his bird after a few more minutes of their fight.

"Me too, let's end it for today," Sakura replied.

She'd fallen into her old routine easily enough; training, missions, training, and Itachi. She was surprised at how easily everything came to her and how natural it felt to be surrounded by these criminals and share meals and decent conversations with them.

"Sakura," she heard a smooth tenor call her name and turned around.

"Itachi," she greeted with a smile.

"I'm gonna go inside for some food. I'll see you later, yeah?" Deidara said as he left the two alone.

"Kay, see you," Sakura called after her blonde friend.

"Did you need something, Itachi?"

"Leader wishes to speak with you. He requests your presence in his office tonight after dinner."

Sakura nodded, "Do you know why?"

"I do not," Itachi said as he shook his head.

"Hmm… alright then."

Sakura and Itachi made their way back to the base in companionable silence and they both walked into Itachi's room, planning to spend the rest of the afternoon there, just enjoying each other's company. Itachi made his way to the washroom and Sakura sat down on the bed, stretching her legs out in front of her.

_'Hm, my legs are getting really dry, does he have any lotion around here?' _she thought to herself. Finding a bottle of lotion she'd gotten him as a present for Christmas, she squirted some on her hand and reclaimed her spot on the bed, spreading the cool substance on her legs.

-

Itachi walked out of the washroom to find Sakura lounging on his bed spreading a sweet smelling substance on her long, milky legs. Honestly, was she _trying _to tempt him to take her right then and there? What did he do to deserve this torture? Well, maybe he was a mass murderer, killed his clan in a single night, & joined the most notorious criminal group in the world, but still! Was she unaware of how unbearably… sexy—for lack of a better word—that was?' Oh no, he did _not _just call someone sexy. Itachi groaned inwardly; what was this girl doing to him?

"Ah, Itachi, I hope you don't mind, I used some of your lotion," Sakura looked up as he walked out of the washroom.

"I've noticed," he said in a dangerously low voice as he made his way towards the bed. That voice sent shivers up and down Sakura's back and caused her stomach to do flips in anticipation of what Itachi would do. However, before he got to the bed, a firm knock was heard.

He suppressed the urge to sigh in irritation at the untimely interruption as he went to answer the door.

"Oy, Itachi, blossom," Kisame nodded to them in greeting, "Leader said that he wants to her now, apparently he's going somewhere and won't be here later," the shark-nin motioned to Sakura.

She lifted herself off the bed and walked to the door, "Right, thanks for letting me know." She left the room with a sigh, nodding her goodbyes to the two.

-

Sakura sighed as she stood in by her bed later that night, staring at the moon. The meeting with Pein puzzled her and to be honest, she was getting somewhat worried. She'd been given a mission of the utmost importance and she was surprised that she was being trusted with it. She was, after all, the newest member and she thought that such a mission would be given to someone more qualified, but she accepted it nonetheless. Was this some kind of a test? Or maybe they really did trust her that much. The thought scared her more than she thought it would have.

"Sakura," a muffled voice called from outside her door, pulling her out of her daze.

"Come in," she called back, hearing the door open then close shortly after.

"What did Leader say?" Itachi inquired as he neared her.

"It's just a mission." She explained the details as he listened intently.

"I will accompany you," he said finally.

"No," she snapped.

"Sakura, this mission is dangerous—"

"—which is exactly why you're not coming with me!"

"You think I will die on this mission?" Itachi raised an elegant eyebrow.

"No, but you'll get hurt…" the petite kunoichi looked away.

"I will not."

Her gaze snapped back to him. "There's always the possibility. I don't want to risk it—I love you dammit and—!" Sakura froze wide-eyed, just as shocked at her admission as Itachi was, "I mean…" she stuttered and stumbled over her words before finally giving up and turning away to walk to the balcony.

Itachi stood rooted to the spot for a few moments, staring at the spot she had previously occupied, before following her soundlessly and wrapped his arms around her, chin rested atop her head. "I will accompany you," he repeated.

Sakura just nodded.

-

"Stay here," a certain Uchiha instructed his injured roseate companion.

Sakura bristled at the command. "I can fight, Itachi," she growled.

He simply stared at her before moving away. He refused to risk her wellbeing for this mission, which he could easily complete himself; however, it seemed Sakura didn't agree with him.

"Get back here, you bastard," she snarled, standing to stop him. "I'm perfectly fine. In case you've forgotten, this was originally _my _mission and I intend to complete it." Why was it necessary for everyone to assume she was weak all the time? She wasn't the vain, weak little twelve year-old from six years ago; she could take care of herself when the need arose and she most definitely didn't need a stuck up Uchiha-bastard to tell her what she could and couldn't do. She was tired of being looked after, and she thought that being in the Akatsuki would show her worth enough, but apparently she was still that weak little girl from all those years ago.

Itachi slowed his steps to a stop and looked back at Sakura. The look in her eyes was so full of anger, shame, and _hurt, _that he couldn't stop himself from going back to her wrapping his arms around her. He wasn't trying to hurt her, only to protect her and told her as much, only to have his chest repeatedly assaulted by her small fists and being shouted at that she didn't need his protection.

"Let go of me!" she repeatedly shouted into his chest. "I hate you…" she finally whispered in defeat, deflating considerable.

He refused to let go and simply waited for her to calm down before murmuring into her hair.

"I love you, Sakura."

The pink-haired medic stiffened at his remark before melting into him and wrapping her arms around him. The entire thing felt so surreal, but the heat emanating from her companion and the stabbing pain in her side told her that everything was definitely real. _The _Uchiha Itachi had just confessed his feelings. Such feeling that were considered impossible for a man such as himself.

"I love you too," came her muffled response.

-

**A/N: **I was able to update a bit more quickly this time (: yay! Haha.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter. I realize that almost the entire thing focuses on just the two of them, but I thought they deserved a chapter all to themselves, seeing as they've been apart for a while now.

Thanks to my faithful readers and newer readers for reading and bearing with me. Constructive criticism is highly appreciated! :D

Hope you enjoyed. Reviews are highly appreciated!

~Ja


	14. Chapter 14

**Last Priority**

**Chapter 14**

_Enjoy (:_

_-_

_Previously on Last Priority…_

_Itachi slowed his steps to a stop and looked back at Sakura. The look in her eyes was so full of anger, shame, and hurt, that he couldn't stop himself from going back to her wrapping his arms around her. He wasn't trying to hurt her, only to protect her and told her as much, only to have his chest repeatedly assaulted by her small fists and being shouted at that she didn't need his protection._

"_Let go of me!" she repeatedly shouted into his chest. "I hate you…" she finally whispered in defeat, deflating considerably._

_He refused to let go and simply waited for her to calm down before murmuring into her hair._

"_I love you, Sakura."_

_The pink-haired medic stiffened at his remark before melting into him and wrapping her arms around him. The entire thing felt so surreal, but the heat emanating from her companion and the stabbing pain in her side told her that everything was definitely real. The Uchiha Itachi had just confessed his feelings. Such feeling that were considered impossible for a man such as himself._

"_I love you too," came her muffled response. _

_-_

Naruto sighed. _'Another day.' _He stared down at the village from the Hokage Mountain, nearly half of it in ruins. There hadn't been too many fatalities, but several casualties and the village's only hospital was busier than he'd ever seen it, especially now that their head medic was gone once more and Tsunade was forced to assume the role until further notice.

"Sakura-chan," he whispered to no one in particular, "Where are you?"

Since she'd been re-kidnapped, Naruto was in a constant state or despair, perhaps even worse than the first time she was taken.

He punched the ground beneath him, "It's my fault, if I'd been here, I could have saved her."

He was called on a mission because they had a lead on Team Hebi, but Sakura wasn't allowed to leave the village, so he had to go without her. He decided he'd just get some information and come back as soon as he could. Then, when she was better, they'd bring Sasuke back. Where did it go wrong?

After getting her back, he'd been so excited and had everything planned out. He promised never to let her get away again, to always be by her side to protect her from them. Together they were going to get Sasuke back and Team 7 was going to be reunited. How could he let this happen? In the past two days, everyone worked hard to restore the village, but he couldn't do anything; he tried, but his anger got the better of him and he just ended up ruining the building materials so Tsunade excused him from his duties to clear his mind.

"Tch, how useless," he muttered to himself. "Sakura-chan, where ever you are, I hope you're safe."

-

_CRACK! _The noise sounded angrily throughout the forest.

"Tch, I'm losing my touch," Tsunade mumbled to herself. She'd been splitting trees for wood to help rebuild the village and as an added bonus, she was getting her anger out on the trees. "Some Hokage I am, I can't even protect one villager," she said miserably. And to top it off, half of her village was now a pile of sad rubble. "I'm getting too old for this. Sarutobi-sensei, how did you do this?"

She sighed and continued on with her work. The animals of the forest were thoroughly frightened and fled their homes in hopes of escaping the angry blonde's wrath.

'_Where are you, Sakura?'_

"Tsunade," a certain pervy sage called from a distance.

She paused in her work to turn around and face him. "Jiraya, what is it?"

"We have more than enough materials now." In other words, 'Stop destroying the forest.'

Tsunade sighed but didn't say anything. She was exhausted, she wouldn't deny it; both physically and emotionally.

-

Tsunade sighed deeply, rubbing her temples in an attempt to get rid of her massive headache. This was becoming too much. Even with the regeneration jutsu in place, she was beginning to see slight signs of worry wrinkles show themselves around her eyes. She was losing sleep over this whole thing. She looked out the large window, down at her beloved village, what used to _Sakura's _beloved village.

There was absolutely no way Sakura left them voluntarily. She was being blackmailed, Tsunade was sure of it. But what got her was why did she stay with them? On a few occasions, when they had encountered Sakura with a blonde teammate, or the large one with blue skin, she had a chance to get away from them. They were nearly defeated but Sakura healed her teammates and retreated with them. Why didn't she leave them to die and return to Konoha? She would be well protected there, if she was under some kind of threat.

"What's going on, Sakura?" Tsuande asked weakly, sighing for what seemed like the hundredth time that day, and it wasn't even noon yet.

-

Sakura yawned as she rolled out of the empty bed. Itachi had gone out on a mission last week and had been due back yesterday. _Where is he? _She asked herself. The petite kunoichi went through all the possibilities in her head. Was he laying in a crater somewhere, bathing in his own blood? Maybe he just wanted a vacation? _Unlikely._ Or perhaps, he'd been given a mission right after and had no time to return. Sakura sighed; she pushed these thoughts from her mind as she got into the shower.

The base was empty now; no one was there, except for herself. It was rather lonely, Sakura admitted. She went through her daily routine and was getting ready to go inside after a rigorous training session.

_Snap!_

Sakura immediately tensed at the sound to her right; she turned to face the sound, crouched in a battle-ready position. A figure stepped out from the trees and Sakura's eyes widened into saucers.

"Sasuke," she whispered disbelievingly.

"Sakura."

She regained herself and tensed further, suspicious of her former teammate's presence. "What are you doing here?"

He didn't reply, but simply looked around, not the least bit intimidated by the fierce look in her eyes.

"Get out—"

Sasuke's eyes locked onto hers, "Is he in there?" he growled.

"What—"

"_Is he in there?"_

"…no, he's on a mission." Before she could even blink, she felt herself being slammed against a tree and a pair of lips crash onto hers in a bruising kiss.

"Sasuke stop—"

"Why are you here, Sakura? You don't belong here."

"Sasuke, please, get off," she whimpered meekly.

"You said you loved me," he growled.

He'd never admit it, but Sasuke had been truly troubled at hearing of Sakura's betrayal, induction into the Akatsuki, and her..._association _with his brother. After he exacted his revenge, he had every intention of returning to her, and living out what was left of his life with her and Naruto. He'd been more furious than ever at his brother, for once again, taking away what was his. Sasuke believed he deserved to be happy, but he knew he could never be until he killed Itachi. When that was done, he planned to be happy with Sakura. Finding out his brother had taken that too had let loose all of his suppressed emotions.

"I did…but you left us; you left me on a park bench for fuck sakes! And you expect me to come running back!?" Sakura yelled as she tried to pry herself from his grasp. Sasuke's grip tightened as he forced his lips onto hers again.

"Mmph!—stop Sas—" Try as she might, her struggles were futile. Sasuke was too strong and her chakra was nearly all gone after her training.

"Why are you here?" he repeated, this time more strained.

Sakura froze at his tone. She'd never heard him this way before and it worried her. "I have my reasons, just like you had yours."

He looked down at her, eyes nearly pleading for her to understand his pain. "With my brother? Why him, of all people?" He released his painful grip and instead wrapped his arms around her gently. "He doesn't deserve you, Sakura. Let's go back home, I'm tired."

Sakura could feel the tears surfacing. _'Oh no, please, no. Don't do this, Sasuke. Don't make me choose.' _She'd been waiting for him to say that for as long as she could remember; waiting for him to come back to her. But now, when she was in love with his brother, how could he expect her to choose between them?

"Sasuke, please…don't do this."

He said nothing but he tightened his grip on her as he buried his face in her hair.

"Sasuke…" she said weakly.

"Naruto will be happy to have us both back. Team seven can finally be a team again."

Sakura lowered her head onto his shoulder and they stood that way for a long time. She was unable to return the embrace, but she didn't move away.

"I…I wish I could go back, but I can't, Sasuke. It's not that simple…" she shook her head against his shoulder.

"Why not? We'll kill them all. If they're threatening you, Sakura, I'll kill them. Naruto will kill them. Then we can go home."

"I can't…" she lifted her hands to his chest and pushed away lightly.

Sasuke refused release her. "I can't just let you go, Naruto would never forgive me if I let this chance go."

"Sasuke please, I can't go back with you." This time, Sakura tried to push him back more with more force.

"He doesn't deserve you," he repeated.

-

"_Why are you here?"_ Itachi heard voices speaking in hushed tones in the forest. His brother seemed to have wanted his revenge more than Itachi thought.

He heard Sakura mumble something back, which surprised him. Itachi was fully expecting Sakura to be hostile and fierce toward his brother. He followed the voices and stood by, deciding to see how this played.

"_With my brother? Why him, of all people?"_ Itachi was amused at this. Sasuke seemed… jealous? Though, the way Sasuke was holding Sakura now did not sit well with him. Not only that, but Sakura didn't make a move to remove herself from him._ "He doesn't deserve you, Sakura. Let's go back home, I'm tired." _This, however, did not amuse him. Home? As in Konoha? Itachi had always cared for and watched out for his little otouto and wanted nothing more than for him to be happy. His actions may not have showed that, but Itachi had no choice then. If Sakura agreed to return, would he stop them? Itachi knew that Sakura did not belong in the Akatsuki, so perhaps going back to her village with her childhood crush would be the best for her. Just the thought set off an uncomfortable twinge in his chest. He identified this pain as the same type he felt when Sakura had been taken from him. He didn't want Sakura to leave, but it was not his place to keep her from happiness.

"_Sasuke, please…don't do this," _shereplied meekly.

"_Sasuke…"_ he heard her repeat. Was she really planning to return?

"_Naruto will be happy to have us both back. Team seven can finally be a team again."_

"_I…I wish I could go back, but I can't, Sasuke. It's not that simple…"_ She wished to return? So taking her back, at the cost of her happiness, was definitely a mistake. This is what he had feared. Sakura wanted nothing more than to go home with her makeshift family. Perhaps letting them leave and finally allowing Sasuke his happiness would somehow make up for him taking it away all those years ago. No, it would never erase his past sins, but it could be a start. The uncomfortable feeling seemed to grow in his chest, but still, he said nothing and waited for them to continue.

"_Why not? We'll kill them all. If they're threatening you, Sakura, I'll kill them. Naruto will kill them. Then we can go home." _

"_I can't…"_ Itachi didn't like the way she sounded almost…regretful and bitter.

"_I can't just let you go, Naruto would never forgive me if I let this chance go."_

"_Sasuke please, I can't go back with you."_

"_He doesn't deserve you,"_ he repeated.

-

"I believe she wants you to get off her."

Sakura was immediately relieved at the sound of the familiar voice behind Sasuke. However, she was also horrified. How much had he heard? What did he think of the situation? Sasuke turned around, letting Sakura free in the process, to face the owner of the voice, none other than Uchiha Itachi. Sakura jumped out of his reach to stand a few feet from her partner.

"Aniki," the younger Uchiha spat out.

"Sasuke," Itachi said coolly.

Sakura looked back and forth worriedly between the two brothers, torn between the two.

"Itachi," she called out timidly, "Let's just go back."

Sasuke growled at this. "You're not going anywhere." The venom in his eyes frightened the petite kunoichi and the tension between the three was suffocating. The softness in his voice was now missing. "_Aniki, _let her go. You're just a replacement for me. Did you know she loved me first?" Sasuke noted the way Itachi's jaw tightened imperceptibly. "For the first time, you're just the second choice."

A kunai sliced through the air and whizzed right by Sasuke's head, landing with a deep '_thunk' _on the tree nearby.

"Stop it, Sasuke." Sakura bit out.

"You don't belong here, especially not with them, Sakura."

"Why, because I'm just going to get myself killed? Is it so hard to believe that I'm strong enough to be here?! I'm not twelve anymore." She took a calming breath to get her emotions in check, "It's not your place to decide where I do and don't belong. You lost that right when you left and betrayed the village."

"Just like you?"

Sakura's fist tightened. "Yeah, just like me."

"Enough," a soft voice ended their argument and rang out clearly in the winter forest.

"Right, it's time to end this." Sasuke flickered out of sight only to reappear mere inches in front of his brother. He brought out his sword and struck against his brother but was too late. Itachi jumped away and let out a great fireball engulfing Sasuke's figure. The smoke cleared up and there was nothing left in the spot where the fire had been seconds ago. Sasuke threw a kick to his brother's side from behind and Itachi blocked it easily with his arm, countering with a few kicks of his own before jumping out of the way and throwing a few kunai with exploding tags attached to the end.

Sakura watched as the two siblings exchanged blows; she hated just watching but knew she'd only get in the way if she tried to get involved. Besides, this was not her fight.

'_Please, just stop this,' _she prayed silently to whatever Gods may be listening.

Once again, the battle ended with the expected results. Sasuke was now lying unconscious on the forest floor, Itachi standing above him.

Itachi looked up when he heard Sakura's footsteps approaching. He simply stared at her, unsure of how he should proceed. He considered asking her if she wished to return. He couldn't decipher the meaning behind the look in her eyes. Was she angry at him for destroying her chances of leaving?

"Itachi…"

"You wish to return with him."

Sakura deliberated on an appropriate answer for a while.

"I thought about it, but…" she broke off.

He simply looked at her, waiting patiently.

"I miss Konoha, of course, but I already made my choice and I'm going to stick with it. I'm not going back Itachi."

She was staying because of the threat on the Uzumaki boy. Itachi couldn't help but feel… let down, though he let none of it show.

"Hn," he simply picked up his brother's body and turned to take it somewhere else.

"Where are you taking him?"

"Away from here."

Sakura didn't know how to react, or what to say, so she nodded and watched as he leapt away. Things were definitely getting more complicated, and Sakura was afraid of what Itachi was thinking. She decided she'd have to talk to him when he returned. She made her way back into the complex after a few minutes, suddenly missing Itachi more than she could remember feeling before.

-

Itachi placed his unconscious brother out by the lake about 20 miles or so away from the complex. He knew Sasuke's teammates would come looking for him and find him eventually. He stood up and looked down at his brother's face, looking more and more like his own. He could see lines of stress beginning to develop on the young face. Itachi eventually tore his gaze away and decided to head back to HQ before anything happened.

-

"Itachi, are you hungry?" Sakura asked when Itachi walked through the door, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Hn." came the expected reply.

She took it as a yes and began making dinner for two. "So how was your mission?"

"It was successful."

"Are you hurt?"

"Not fatally," he replied honestly, taking his seat at the table, watching the pink haired woman cook.

"So that means you're still hurt, honestly, what are you going to do without me," Sakura shook her head. "I'll get right on that after dinner."

'_What are you going to do without me?' _Itachi repeated these words in his head. What _was _he going to do without her, if ever that day came? He had come to realize that he would have an incredible difficult time getting by if his pink haired kunoichi was taken from him. He preferred not to think about it.

"Very well."

Sakura didn't want to nag, or sound nosy, but she was worried for Itachi. Sure, he wasn't the greatest conversationalist, but after working together for as long as they had, and _being _together, she had been able to break away at his carefully crafted wall to get him to talk to her in at least full sentences. Deciding not to pry into what she assumed to be personal business, she continued cooking, keeping quiet for fear of irritating him.

"Is is true?" Itachi finally spoke up after a few long moment of silence.

Sakura turned to look at him, eyebrow raised in confusion. "Is _what _true?"

"I am the second choice, the replacement for my brother."

She sighed, "Of course not, Itachi, I thought we went over this. I don't want Sasuke…" Although Sakura was an openly affectionate person, she still had trouble saying the words _'I love you' _out loud, especially to _him. _Something about Itachi just prevented her from saying it very much.

"But you did," he said somewhat detachedly

Sakura left the food for a few minutes. "Yes, I loved him at one point, but I was young and foolish, I didn't know any better. But I'm older now, I know what I want and I'm sure of it." She walked over to him, uncertain of his thoughts, but determined to find out.

Itachi stood from his seat and just stared at Sakura. The intensity in his gaze made her uncomfortable, but she didn't look away. He seemed to be searching for something, though she didn't know what. After several long moments of silence, Itachi reached out to her, gathering her into his arms.

"You are certain," he stated more than asked, but she could hear the uncertainty behind his deep voice.

She nodded into his chest, "I am."

"Very well," Itachi released her somewhat reluctantly, letting her return to the food before it started to burn. Before returning to the stove, Sakura grabbed a hold of Itachi's upper arm and got up on her tippy toes. She stretched her neck out and captured his lips in a soft kiss, to reassure him that he was worrying for nothing. Itachi caught on quickly and placed one hand on her waist, pulling her closer to him, the other resting behind her neck to get a better angle. The kiss quickly turned passionate and feverish as the two ninja tried to show the other how much their presence was missed. Sakura was the first to pull back as her lungs demanded air. She untangled herself from his arms and turned around slowly, returning to the awaiting kitchen.

Itachi, in turn, sat back down without a word, resuming his perusal of the pink haired kunoichi before him.

After Sakura finished cooking, she sat down, handing Itachi his own plate of food. They talked of relatively unimportant things, straying away from the heavier topics. However, after eating, Sakura set aside her plate and watched Itachi carefully.

"Ne, Itachi, what…what happened…that night?"

Itachi waited for her to clarify further.

"Your last night in Konoha," her voice had dropped to a near whisper.

He closed his eyes for a while; when he opened them, the sharingan was no longer activated, revealing his charcoal grey eyes. He decided it was about time he told her the truth.

"The Uchiha clan was very unstable, though no one outside the high council and the elders of the clan were aware. Half of the clan believed that when I became heir, we would be able to take over Konoha with me as Hokage. The other half was not pleased with the idea. They did not find it necessary to carry out such plans and if it were to succeed, the citizens would never trust us nor listen to us, therefore defeating the entire purpose. It became apparent that one side would have to eliminate the other in order to determine the future of the clan." Itachi had not looked away from Sakura the entire time, and the action made her stomach flop, but she said nothing as she listened intently. She had rarely ever heard Itachi speak so much at one time.

"The Hokage was notified of the situation," he continued, "and somehow Danzou had found out as well. He and ROOT demanded that Konoha take action as soon as possible. The Hokage didn't want as bloody of a solution as Danzou, but the elders agreed that it was the only way. Not only was the Hokage in danger, but the entire village as well, for the war between the Uchiha clan would be a bloody and dangerous one." Sakura could see where this was going, but still remained silent.

"I was called in one day by the Hokage and he requested that I inform him of any developments within the clan as they came."

"Like a spy?" Sakura finally spoke up.

Itachi gave a slight nod before continuing. "About three months after the request, the Hokage called for me again, and gave me a mission." He looked away from her, for the first time since he started telling the story. "The quarrel within the clan was becoming dangerous and was expected to erupt into war very soon, so I was asked to _eliminate the problem._ I was asked to rid Konoha of all the Uchiha."

"But why all of them? Why couldn't you have just killed off one side, or just the council? What about all of the innocent lives."

Itachi focused his gaze back to Sakura. "Doing so would have caused too many complications within Konoha and in the clan; problem which the Hokage didn't need. It is easier to write off one person as a criminal and exile them than to have to come up with a cover story for why only a portion of the clan was killed. It would have been irreparable and the clan would not have been the same."

They sat in silence as Sakura took in all the new information. She didn't know what she'd been expecting, but it definitely wasn't this. "What about Sasuke?" she finally managed to ask.

Itachi didn't answer right away; he closed his eyes, finding a way to put his response to words. "Sasuke was…a weakness. I was unable to bring myself to kill my little brother as he looked up at me with such fear and confusion."

Sakura nodded, "He always did look up to you and to some extent, I think he still does." Itachi said nothing to this. "You love him, don't you?" Again, he said nothing, but that was confirmation enough for her.

"One day, when the time is right, I will grant Sasuke the happiness he deserves."

Sakura's eyes widened at this. Was he implying that he was going to let Sasuke kill him? "Itachi…what are you saying?"

"You will see."

She walked over to him and settled on the ground directly in front of him, taking his hands into her own. They simply stared into each other's eyes until finally, Itachi leaned down and Sakura reached up. It seemed to take an eternity for their lips to touch. Their position was reminiscent of the day they sorted out their feelings for each other and decided to pursue a relationship. The kiss was soft and tentative as Itachi silently asked for permission to enter by gently grazing his tongue along her lower lip. Sakura granted him entrance immediately and linked her arms behind his neck. He somehow managed to shift their positions so that he was able to pick her up, not breaking the kiss while he did so. He carried her to his bedroom where he entered easily and placed her onto the bed. They broke apart for air and he climbed up on top of her, staring deeply into her endless emerald eyes. Sakura reached up and pulled the loose elastic that held his hair in place. It came cascading down and formed a makeshift curtain around her, leaving only his face for her to look at. He seemed to silently ask for permission and Sakura immediately knew what he was asking her for. She was nervous, but she nodded her head slowly, almost reluctantly. She knew that she wanted this, with him, and she could think of no better time than now to finally take this step with him. They'd been together for nearly two years now and they knew more about each other than most people did.

Itachi lowered his head and they met with a spark. The kiss was immediately hungry and passionate, consisting of teeth and tongue. He broke away and his mouth travelled down to her neck, playfully nibbling on the sensitive skin there. This elicited a quiet, shy moan from the woman under him and he smirked in satisfaction that it had been him to pull the sound from her. His hands worked under her shirt and roamed the flat surface of her toned stomach before pulling it up and over her head. He returned to her lips and kissed her thoroughly as Sakura reached over to pull his own shirt over his head, breaking apart only when necessary. His hands found her waist and explored the skin that was displayed to him as she absently ran her hands over his arms, loving the way they rippled under her touch. Until now, the entire experience was careful and timid, neither of them sure about how they should go about it. Neither were virgins, but Sakura was still nervous and Itachi didn't want to frighten her by going too fast. However, when he returned to her waiting lips, everything seemed to change. The passion between them ignited and burned like fire, their hands reaching and gripping of the each other. Itachi reached under his pillow and pulled out a kunai, wasting no time in slicing her chest bindings cleanly down the middle without leaving so much as a scratch on her skin. He hummed appreciatively as his hands massaged the soft mounds. Sakura moaned against his lips, raising her chest off slightly off the bed to get closer to his heavenly hands. All reservations were now lost as they clung to each other. Itachi's lips worked their way down her body, stopping every now and then to leave a small love bite on her skin. He finally reached her chest and he kissed down the middle and moved his way over to her left breast. He kissed around in circles, careful to avoid her nipple, which drove her nearly mad.

"Itachi…" she moaned breathily.

He smirked but made no move to answer her plea. His hand massaged her other breast, making sure not to neglect one side. After several torturing moments, he finally took in her nipple and flicked it with his tongue several times. Sakura's eyes shut in sheer pleasure as she let out another moan, which went straight to Itachi's pants. He continued his ministrations for a short while before moving to her other side to give her other breast the same treatment. Sakura was writhing under him, eager to release the coil slowly being wound in her core. His other hand, not fondling her left breast travelled down until he found her pants. He easily slipped them off after she raised her hips to assist him, leaving her clad in her black underwear. If Itachi's mouth hadn't been occupied, he'd have smirked at her choice in under garments, not that he was complaining. Sakura was too preoccupied with Itachi's mouth to notice that his other hand seemed to be travelling dangerously lower. She only noticed that his hand was _inside _her underwear when he applied pressure to the bundle of nerves, sending intense waves of pleasure through her. She panted and gripped the fabric of the bed as he continued to toy with her. Replacing his middle finger with his thumb, he slipped a finger into her already moist folds. Her eyes shot open in surprise at the odd but sensational feeling as he pumped his finger in and out of her. His mouth continued its abuse on her breast and Sakura was absolutely losing her mind in pleasure. He added another finger and began making scissoring motions as he stretched her for a later intrusion. He added a third finger and soon a fourth and Sakura was going absolutely insane. Her head rolled back and she couldn't concentrate on anything other than the pleasure Itachi was giving her. She grabbed at his head and pushed herself further into his mouth as she desperately tried to reach that heavenly peak. Itachi could tell she was close and decided he'd help her along. He sent chakra to his fingers that caused a slight buzzing along the tips.

"…Itachi… please…" Sakura pleaded softly.

He pressed his finger harder into Sakura and she felt the buzzing inside her. She let out a strangled cry as she felt her control slipping. She came hard and bucked her hips against his still buzzing fingers. He waited for her to come down from her high before removing his finger from her and kissing her hard. She returned his kiss with equal passion as she locked her arms around him. She ran her hands through his impossibly soft hair before they wandered lower. Tugged at his pants and he smirked, getting the message. He helped her pull them down, removing his boxers in the same motion. He lifted her hips in order to remove her underwear. He pulled away to admire the addictive woman who was beautifully naked beneath him. She blushed at his attention and attempted to cover herself from his approving gaze. Itachi let out a low, possessive growl at this and moved her hands away. He bent down and returned to her lips as he placed a hand on her hip.

"Are you ready?" he asked her gently.

She merely nodded, preparing herself for the intrusion.

Itachi eased himself inside her with one smooth thrust of his hips. Sakura gasped at the feeling of being so completely filled. She tried to adjust to the strange stretching feeling that came with it by squirming slightly. Itachi buried his face in her neck, trying to regain his control and prevent himself from thrusting relentlessly into her hot, wet core. When she moved her hips, he felt a part of his control leave him as he gripped her hips desperately and pulling out as gently as his current state of control would let him. Sakura felt every contour as he glided out, only the tip remaining and let out a soft moan. She was caught completely off guard as she didn't expect the sudden hard thrust of his hips as he reentered her. The action set her nerve ending on fire and she whimpered at the sharp pleasure he gave her. He repeated the soft retreat and quick entry with relative control until he hit that spot in her and she cried out. He muscles massaged him thoroughly rewarding him and that's when he lost it. His grip tightened, he kissed her hard, and he thrust his hips in an animalistic manner. Sakura didn't mind in the least at his sudden change and did her best to keep up with him. It was a difficult thing to do because as soon as he hit that spot in her she was left shaking and before she could find it in herself to respond, he was already out and getting ready to return home to that one spot. Itachi made it his personal goal to only hit that spot inside his pink-haired lover, and when he set his mind to something, he always succeeded. Sakura didn't think she'd be able to last much longer…and she didn't. After a few more thrusts, Sakura lost herself and the coil in her finally released. Her muscles convulsed and held Itachi in place, rewarding him for his efforts. Sakura's release triggered his own and he shot his seed into her, throwing her higher into ecstasy. They remained motionless for a few minutes as they came down from their high. Itachi pulled out of her, eliciting a surprised gasp. He moved off of Sakura to lie down beside her; he pulled her into his arms and she nuzzled herself into him, wrapping her arms around his torso. Itachi placed a soft kiss on the top of her head, causing her to look up at him. She saw a genuine look of content on his features, causing her to smile up at him. Itachi looked down at his lover and couldn't help but let out a small, shy smile. Sakura nearly gasped at this, for she'd never seen him smile at anything before. She decided he was absolutely gorgeous when he smiled. He pulled her closer to him and she buried her face in his neck.

"I love you," she whispered.

"Hn."

She didn't expect him to return the expression, but she knew he did anyway, and that was enough for her. Sakura was afraid of what the future held for them. She was afraid of what might become of them, or what would happen if she were to lose him. However, she decided that perhaps, not knowing what was in store for them was better than knowing that they'd be together forever, or if they were to split apart, how and when it would happen. This way they'd learn together and help one another out. Yes, she was still afraid of the future, but she was willing to go to extreme lengths to make things work with Itachi. She eventually fell asleep, unable to keep the fatigue from their earlier activities at bay. Her breathing evened out and Itachi simply stared at her for a few minutes more before falling into sleep himself, thoughts of his beautiful kunoichi still fresh in his mind.

THE END! (:

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**A/N: **I know it's been forever since I last updated and I extend my sincerest apologies. I've been incredibly busy with school, and I'm honestly surprised that it's been keeping me as busy as it has.

Anyway… as you've noticed, I've finally added in that lemon. It's my first one...ever…so please forgive any awkwardness. Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated and welcomed. Thank you for reading and I hope you'll come back to read the next chap.

Stay updated!

Hope you enjoyed. Reviews are highly appreciated!

~Ja

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(PS) read the sequal, coming soon! (:


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